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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Kui Zhang
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2026The efficient utilization of CO2 as a carbon feedstock is vital for achieving carbon neutrality while enabling sustainable production of C1 chemicals. Plasma-assisted catalytic conversion has emerged as a promising strategy under mild conditions, yet its progress is limited by the lack of highly active and plasma-tolerant catalysts. In this work, an In2O3-ZrO2 composite catalyst with high catalytic activity, excellent thermal stability and long service life was successfully prepared by combining the chemical precipitation method with plasma technology. The In-Zr (1 : 1) catalyst exhibited the best performance, reaching a CO2 conversion of 26.3% and CO selectivity above 90% at an SIE of 104 kJ L−1. Compared with pure In2O3, the composite showed markedly improved thermal stability, sustaining continuous operation for 450 min, three times longer than In2O3. Plasma modification induced a higher concentration of oxygen vacancies (1.69 × 1013 spins per g), increased surface area (56.7 m2 g−1), and a narrowed bandgap (2.49 eV), which synergistically enhanced catalytic activity. Mechanistic studies and DFT calculations further revealed that the strong plasma-catalyst interaction facilitates CO2 activation pathways. This study demonstrates not only the durability of In-Zr composites but also highlights plasma modification as an effective strategy to design next-generation catalysts for plasma-assisted CO2 utilization. Meanwhile, the In-Zr catalyst successfully developed in this study, with its outstanding performance, stability and durability, is a highly promising candidate material for high-temperature industrial catalytic processes.
Author(s): Li S, Wang Y, Zhang K, Zhu H, Jia S, Yang D, Ren P, Ma Z, Wang S, Wu H, Ma Y, Chen Q, Zhouhuang J, Yu Q, Zeng L, Tan R, Feng Z, Feng Q
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Materials Chemistry A
Year: 2026
Volume: 14
Issue: 15
Pages: 8976-8988
Online publication date: 06/01/2026
Acceptance date: 05/01/2026
Date deposited: 17/03/2026
ISSN (print): 2050-7488
ISSN (electronic): 2050-7496
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
URL: https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA08108D
DOI: 10.1039/d5ta08108d
Data Access Statement: All data included in this article are available upon request by contacting the corresponding author. Supplementary information (SI) is available. See DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d5ta08108
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