Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2026, Vol. 84: 1-24.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(26)64996-0

• Reviews •     Next Articles

Zirconia-mediated interfacial catalysis for CO2 hydrogenation

Zhiyao Liua,b, Tangkang Liua,b(), Chuan Qina,b, Guoliang Liua,b(), Anmin Zhenga,b()   

  1. a Interdisciplinary Institute of NMR and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, Hubei, China
    b Hubei Province for Coal Conversion and New Carbon Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, Hubei, China
  • Received:2025-08-20 Accepted:2025-11-12 Online:2026-05-18 Published:2026-04-16
  • Contact: *E-mail: liutk@wust.edu.cn (T. Liu),
    liugl@whu.edu.cn (G. Liu),
    zam@wust.edu.cn (A. Zheng).
  • About author:Tangkang Liu (Interdisciplinary Institute of NMR and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University of Science and Technology) received his B.S. in chemistry from Guangxi University in 2016 and his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Wuhan University in 2023. After that, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Wuhan University of Science and Technology (2023 to date). His research interests focus on the design and structure-performance relationships of heterogeneous catalytic materials for CO2 hydrogenation.
    Guoliang Liu (Interdisciplinary Institute of NMR and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University of Science and Technology) obtained his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry in 2010 and graduated as a Doctor of Science in 2015 from Wuhan University. He had a visiting period as a joint PhD program under the supervision of Prof. S. C. E. Tsang at University of Oxford (UK) in 2013‒2015. From 2017 to 2023, he joined Wuhan University as an Associate Researcher to start an independent academic career. He is now a full professor at Wuhan University of Science and Technology. His research interest focuses on heterogeneous catalysis of CO2 utilization and biomass conversion.
    Anmin Zheng (Interdisciplinary Institute of NMR and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University of Science and Technology) holds the position of Professor at the Interdisciplinary Institute of NMR and Molecular Sciences (NMR-X) and Dean of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Wuhan University of Science and Technology. Following his PhD (2005, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, CAS), he was appointed Full Professor in 2012. His group is dedicated to understanding the mechanisms of heterogeneous catalysis, employing a synergistic approach that bridges advanced spectroscopic experiments and multiscale theoretical modeling.
    First author contact:

    Zhiyao Liu: investigation, software, data curation, formal analysis, methodology, writing - original draft. Chuan Qin: validation, formal analysis, writing review & editing. Tangkang Liu: investigation, formal analysis, methodology, writing review & editing. Guoliang Liu: conceptualization, writing - review & editing, project administration, resources, supervision, validation, funding acquisition. Anmin Zheng: project administration, resources, supervision, validation, and funding acquisition.

  • Supported by:
    National Key R&D Program of China(2023YFA1507700);National Natural Science Foundation of China(22172113);National Natural Science Foundation of China(22472126);National Natural Science Foundation of China(22402154);Hubei Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China(2025AFA008);Hubei Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China(2025AFA065);Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of CPSF(GZC20232002);Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of CPSF(GZC20232003);China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2024M752497);Postdoctor Project of Hubei Province(2004HBBHCXA075);Research Project of Hubei Provincial Department of Education(D20241104)

Abstract:

Catalytic CO2 hydrogenation to high-value chemicals/fuels by using green hydrogen, stemming from renewable energy, is regarded as one of the most promising approaches to alleviate the emissions of CO2 and to build a carbon neutral society in the future. This requires the development of advanced catalyst design strategy. Zirconia has been widely used as a good catalyst support/promoter for the CO2 hydrogenation reactions, because of its significant advantages in high thermal stability, tunable surface acidity/basicity, oxygen vacancy-mediated activation, and strong metal-support interactions. In the past few years, there has been an increasing number of advanced Zr-containing catalysts, mainly for methanol synthesis reaction. Despite some reviews involving Zr-containing catalyst systems, there is still lacking of a specific review to comprehensively address the role of Zr-induced synergistic sites/interfaces as well as their activation mechanism in CO2 hydrogenation to methanol. Herein, this review will systematically summarize the representative four types of Zr-containing catalysts, including metal/ZrO2 catalysts, oxide catalysts, multi-component catalysts, and MOF-derived catalysts in recent years, and deeply explore the nature of active sites/interfaces and reaction mechanisms in multiple dimensions. In addition, we will discuss the influence of surface hydroxyl groups on Zr-containing catalysts and water on the activity of methanol synthesis. Finally, we expand the research to CO2 hydrogenation to higher alcohols/olefins and propose future research scopes for catalyst design. This review aims to provide fundamental insights into the rational design and optimization of high-performance Zr-containing catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation reactions.

Key words: CO2 hydrogenation, Zirconia, Active sites, Reaction mechanisms, Methanol synthesis