CO2 splitting by thermo-chemical looping based on ZrxCe1−xO2 oxygen carriers for synthetic fuel generation

► CO2 valorization from solar thermal energy for the production of synthetic fuels. ► A thermochemical looping process for CO2 reduction based on ZrxCe1−xO2 binary oxides. ► CO production in repeated cycles without significant catalyst deactivation. ► CO2 dissociation is enhanced when decreasing the Zr content. ► The materials synthesized via Pechini method are the most reactive for CO2-splitting.