Transforming a CO2 Adsorbent to a RWGS Catalyst by Controlling MgO Defects with Ce Single Atoms

Transforming a CO2 Adsorbent to a RWGS Catalyst by Controlling MgO Defects with Ce Single Atoms | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Physical Sciences - Article Transforming a CO2 Adsorbent to a RWGS Catalyst by Controlling MgO Defects with Ce Single Atoms Gabriele Centi, Shiyan Li, Na Li, Tian Qin, Zhanglong Guo, Yuan Lv, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4716142/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The reverse water gas shift reaction (RWGS) is an important industrial reaction in the value chain to convert CO2 to enable carbon circularity. MgO is a typical absorbent of CO2 that forms stable surface carbonates. We demonstrate that highly defective MgO nanocrystals (c.a. 20 nanometers) are instead an active catalyst for RWGS. Their performances can be significantly enhanced by adding atomically dispersed Ce atoms anchored at these defective MgO sites. Extensive mechanistic studies and theoretical modelling prove that CO2 catalytic conversion depends on the MgO defective sites. Ce mainly promotes their number. Even if their presence influences the rate-limiting step, the activation energy remains unchanged, with the activity increase related to the pre-exponential factor. The Ce-doped MgO nanocrystal reached the RWGS equilibrium conversion at 600°C with CO product selectivity > 99%, maintained for over 850 hours on stream. The comparison with state-of-the-art evidence of their superior performances. Physical sciences/Chemistry/Catalysis/Heterogeneous catalysis Physical sciences/Engineering/Chemical engineering Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files 20240706CeMgOExtendeddata.pdf Extended data 20240706CeMgONaturesupplementarymaterials.pdf Supplementary material Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4716142","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Physical Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":325134710,"identity":"143f4413-3a9e-466f-b0bd-0e552dd5a793","order_by":0,"name":"Gabriele 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