Synergistic Catalytic Modulation of CO₂ Reactivity Toward C₈ Hydrocarbon

Worldwide long-term consumption of petroleum has caused an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, leading to numerous ramifications: increased heat waves, ocean acidification, volatile weather conditions, etc. To combat this problem, modern researchers have looked into the conversion of atmospheric carbon dioxide into usable fuel, mitigating atmospheric carbon dioxide levels while simultaneously providing a solution to the declining availability of fossil fuels. The process of deriving usable fuel from carbon dioxide was dubbed hydrogenation of CO₂, involving a series of intricate steps, each necessitating a specific catalyst to drive the reaction towards the desired compound. To start, the reverse water-gas shift reaction is needed to convert carbon dioxide and hydrogen into carbon monoxide and water, more commonly known as syngas. Syngas is then fed into the Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis, the primary procedure in hydrogenation, which converts syngas into liquid hydrocarbons. However, such hydrocarbons are inherently smaller chains, as the amount of energy needed to convert syngas into hydrocarbons increases as the chain length increases, yielding only C₁-C₄ chains. To resolve this, a process known as oligomerization synthesizes identical smaller hydrocarbon chains into longer chains, in this case, octane. Yet even after such complex processes, the octane that is produced is not optimal for use. In actuality, the octane is in a linear form, which is inferior to its branched counterpart, yielding lower results and worse performance. Isomerization mitigates this process by restructuring the compound.