Cobalt clusters decorated CoxMn1−xO nanocomposites for improving the efficiency of syngas to lower olefins with lower CO2 emission

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis has long been the most important means to convert non-fossil resources to high value-added products, i.e., lower olefins. However, the selectivity tends to be low. In the past decades, the efforts devoted to improving the selectivity toward lower olefins have been rewarded, but the selectivity toward undesired CO2 is overlooked and normally over 40%, resulting in a poor carbon usage effectiveness. Here, we describe CoxMn1−xO nanocrystals to achieve a high selectivity (65.4%) toward lower olefins and a remarkably low CO2 selectivity of only 13.7%. Such superior performance is due to the formation of stable Co0 clusters (<1 nm) as active sites, which facilitate the activation of CO and weaken the C-C coupling to generate lower olefins, and suppress water-gas shift reaction to minimize CO2 emission. Our work represents a conceptual advance to the design of highly efficient catalysts for superior lower olefins selectivity by taking CO2 into account.