DBD-coupled highly dispersed Ni/SiO2 materials for CO2 reduction performance and mechanism study

Climate warming caused by the yearly rise of CO 2 emissions has posed a great challenge to the survival and development of human beings. In this study, the active component Ni was combined with mesoporous silica (SiO 2 ) to construct a highly dispersed Ni composite silicon-based catalyst (Ni x /Si), which was introduced into the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) system for the conversion of CO 2 . The XRD and FTIR analyses confirmed that Ni was successfully introduced into the SiO 2 carrier and the SEM results showed that the Ni elements were uniformly distributed. BET and TGA results revealed large specific surface area, stable mesoporous structure, and high thermal stability of the prepared Nix/Si. Further investigation of DBD-coupled Ni x /Si performance for CO 2 conversion showed significant variations based on different Ni loadings, with optimal CO 2 conversion rate, CO yield, and energy efficiency achieved at 3% Ni loading, which increased by 121.8%, 101.5%, and 102.4% respectively compared to the SiO 2 support. During the process of reducing CO 2 , the combination of Ni x /Si and DBD exhibited synergistic effects, with Ni 0 playing a crucial role in the CO 2 reduction. The introduction of Ni x /Si enhances charge transfer in the discharge region, improves CO 2 adsorption, and reduces the dissociation energy of CO 2 bonds. The DBD-coupled Ni x /Si developed by this study offers several advantages including low energy consumption, simple operation, and high efficiency, making it a promising solution for CO 2 treatment.