@article{Zhang2025, 
author = {Wangxing Zhang and Yu Luo and Sónia A.C. Carabineiro and Shuai Lyu and Wenwen Xiao and Zhiyan He and Zhu’an Zheng and Junjiang Zhu},
title = {Stabilizing Co nanoparticles for CO2 hydrogenation by lattice-matching confinement in ZnO interlayers},
year = {2025},
journal = {Nano Research},
volume = {18},
number = {4},
pages = {94907282},
keywords = {lattice-matching, epitaxial growth, confined catalyst, CO2 hydrogenation, catalytic stability},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NR.2025.94907282},
doi = {10.26599/NR.2025.94907282},
abstract = {Confining active nanoparticles within specific nanoscale spaces is a promising strategy to improve the catalytic activity, selectivity and stability of catalysts. In this study, we present a lattice-matching approach to confine Co particles within ZnO layers (ZnO/Co/ZnO) for CO2 hydrogenation, a critical and challenging reaction in the field of CO2 utilization and energy production. XRD patterns reveal that the lattice mismatch between ZnO and hexagonal wurtzite CoO (w-CoO) is only 0.18%, facilitating the epitaxial growth of w-CoO on the ZnO surface, or vice versa. This minimal mismatch enables the successful confinement of w-CoO within the ZnO interlayers. This advanced methodology can also be adapted to diverse ZnO morphologies, allowing the optimization of the confined catalyst microstructure. Significantly, when Co particles are confined within the interlayer of ZnO, they exhibit excellent catalytic activity, achieving a rate of 15.8 μ molCO2⋅gCo−1⋅s−1 for CO2 hydrogenation reaction. Moreover, no appreciable deactivation was observed even after 700 h of continuous operation. These results introduce a novel approach for the development of confined catalysts with enhanced activity and long-term stability.}
}