Boosting Dimethyl Carbonate Production from CO₂ and Methanol using Ceria‐Ionic Liquid Catalyst

Abstract

As a crucial strategy towards a sustainable chemical industry, the direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) from renewable carbon dioxide (CO2) and methanol (MeOH) is studied, using CeO2 nanoparticles modified with 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium hydrogen carbonate ([BMIm][HCO3]) devoid of stoichiometric dehydrating agents. The synthesized CeO2@[BMIm][HCO3] catalyst having high thermal stability harnesses the unique physicochemical properties of CeO2 and the ionic liquid to exhibit a DMC yield of 10.4% and a methanol conversion of 16.1 % at optimal conditions (pressure of CO2 = 5 MPa; temperature = 130 °C). The catalytic behavior of CeO2@[BMIm][HCO3] studied with a detailed XRD, XPS, CO2 and NH3‐TPD, Raman spectroscopy, TGA, FTIR, SEM and TEM suggests that the synergy between the two catalytic components originating from an increased surface oxygen vacancies boosts the overall catalytic performance. After several recycling tests, the catalyst demonstrated no significant reduction in DMC yield and methanol conversion. This platform is an attractive approach to synthesize thermally stable nanoparticle@ionic liquid that retains and merges the physical attributes of both materials for producing useful bulk chemicals from readily available chemical resources.

Recent Uses of Ionic Liquids in the Recovery and Utilization of Rare Earth Elements

“…In order to improve a sustainable chemical industry, the direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) from renewable carbon dioxide (CO2) and methanol (MeOH) is studied using CeO2 nanoparticles modified with the ionic liquid (IL) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen carbonate ([BMIm + ][HCO3 -]) [78]. The synthesized CeO2@IL catalyst presented various DMC yields and methanol conversions depending of the temperature and pressure (Table 14), with the optimal conditions described as: pressure of CO2 of 5 MPa; temperature of 130 °C).…”