Carbon Nanosphere-Encapsulated Fe–Co Catalysts for CO₂ Hydrogenation

Carbon Nanosphere-Encapsulated Fe–Co Catalysts for CO₂ Hydrogenation | 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 Research Article Carbon Nanosphere-Encapsulated Fe–Co Catalysts for CO₂ Hydrogenation Jared Lugo, Tyler Davide, Juan Jimenez, Habiba Mosbah, Kenly Moran, and 6 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9089339/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The catalytic hydrogenation of CO₂ to light olefins offers a promising route for converting greenhouse gases into value-added chemicals. In this work, a series of carbon nanosphere (CNS)-encapsulated Fe–Co core–shell catalysts with varying Fe/Co molar ratios were synthesized via resorcinol–formaldehyde polymerization followed by carbonization. The catalysts were evaluated for CO₂hydrogenation in a continuous-flow-bed quartz reactor under atmospheric pressure. Among the compositions investigated, the bimetallic CNS–Fe₁Co₂catalyst exhibited the best catalytic performance, showing higher CO₂conversion and improved selectivity toward C₂–C₄olefins compared with the monometallic CNS–Fe and CNS–Co catalysts. Structural characterization demonstrates that Fe–Co nanoparticles are uniformly confined within graphitic carbon nanospheres, forming a stable core–shell architecture. Under reaction conditions, the metal species undergo reduction and carburization to form iron carbide phases associated with C–C coupling and hydrocarbon chain growth. The presence of cobalt facilitates hydrogen activation and modifies the electronic environment of Fe, while the graphitic carbon shell suppresses nanoparticle sintering and maintains structural stability. These results highlight the synergistic roles of bimetallic interaction and carbon confinement in tuning catalytic behavior for CO₂hydrogenation. CO2 hydrogenation carbon nanosphere (CNS) bimetallic Fe-Co monometallic Fe monometallic Co light olefins XRD H2-TPR XPS TGA Raman spectroscopy Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 07 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 01 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 28 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Apr, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 13 Apr, 2026 Editor invited by journal 13 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 14 Mar, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 14 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 10 Mar, 2026 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. 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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-9089339","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":626191988,"identity":"e540a841-77bc-44cf-b9f0-430b57dcd86b","order_by":0,"name":"Jared Lugo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Long Island University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jared","middleName":"","lastName":"Lugo","suffix":""},{"id":626191995,"identity":"ad92d147-6608-4923-b53c-641ce5057604","order_by":1,"name":"Tyler Davide","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Long Island 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