Effects of ceria-doping on a CO2 hydrogenation iron–manganese catalyst

Hydrogenation of CO2 to hydrocarbons is investigated over ceria-doped iron-based catalysts. While the addition of low levels of Ce leads to a marginal improvement in the catalyst's CO2 hydrogenation ability, a decrease is observed when doping levels are raised to 10 wt.%. Even though the overall CO2 conversion is only marginally, lower than with the undoped catalyst, the product distribution is shifted away from C2–C5+ HC and towards CO. It was found that the addition of Ce leads to ceria particles being formed upon iron and thus most likely leading to a reduction in available chain-growth active sites on the iron.