Selective conversion of CO and H into aromatics.

Transformation of greenhouse gas CO and renewable H into fuels and commodity chemicals is recognized as a promising route to store fluctuating renewable energy. Although several C chemicals, olefins, and gasoline have been successfully synthesized by CO hydrogenation, selective conversion of CO and H into aromatics is still challenging due to the high unsaturation degree and complex structures of aromatics. Here we report a composite catalyst of ZnAlO and H-ZSM-5 which yields high aromatics selectivity (73.9%) with extremely low CH selectivity (0.4%) among the carbon products without CO. Methanol and dimethyl ether, which are synthesized by hydrogenation of formate species formed on ZnAlO surface, are transmitted to H-ZSM-5 and subsequently converted into olefins and finally aromatics. Furthermore, 58.1% p-xylene in xylenes is achieved over the composite catalyst containing Si-H-ZSM-5. ZnAlO&H-ZSM-5 suggests a promising application in manufacturing aromatics from CO and H.