Designing a Multifunctional Catalyst for the Direct Production of Gasoline-Range Isoparaffins from CO(2)

[Image: see text] The production of carbon-neutral fuels from CO(2) presents an avenue for causing an appreciable effect in terms of volume toward the mitigation of global carbon emissions. To that end, the production of isoparaffin-rich fuels is highly desirable. Here, we demonstrate the potential of a multifunctional catalyst combination, consisting of a methanol producer (InCo) and a Zn-modified zeolite beta, which produces a mostly isoparaffinic hydrocarbon mixture from CO(2) (up to ∼85% isoparaffin selectivity among hydrocarbons) at a CO(2) conversion of >15%. The catalyst combination was thoroughly characterized via an extensive complement of techniques. Specifically, operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) reveals that Zn (which plays a crucial role of providing a hydrogenating function, improving the stability of the overall catalyst combination and isomerization performance) is likely present in the form of Zn(6)O(6) clusters within the zeolite component, in contrast to previously reported estimations.