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Efficient syngas conversion via catalytic shunt

Nature Sustainability volume 8, pages 508–519 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Catalytic syngas conversion has the potential to improve the sustainability of chemical products. However, balancing high catalytic activity with selectivity is challenging because the complex interactions among intermediates across various active sites can trigger competing reactions. To address this challenge, we introduce a catalytic shunt strategy that redirects intermediates in a multifunctional catalytic system to guide interdependent reaction pathways. The key to this catalytic shunt strategy is modulating the adsorption of the intermediates across different activity domains. By tuning Mo–O coordination numbers of single atoms in a bifunctional catalyst, we achieve over 80% selectivity for aromatics and a carbon monoxide conversion surpassing 70%, with aromatics yields of over 40%. By absorbing the intermediates on the first activity domain, the shunt pathway prevents their participation in subsequent reactions, thereby boosting methane production with selectivity above 93% and carbon monoxide conversion exceeding 50%. This catalytic shunt strategy also showcases versatility across other bifunctional systems for producing gasoline and light olefins. Overall, this study provides a viable approach for tackling the activity–selectivity trade-off in catalytic syngas conversion, removing a major barrier preventing its practical implementation.

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Fig. 1: The catalytic system design inspired by a biosystem.
Fig. 2: Structure identification of single-atom Mo–Ox.
Fig. 3: Catalytic performance by introducing catalytic shunt strategy.
Fig. 4: The desorption behaviour of intermediates over the bifunctional system.
Fig. 5: Mechanistic study of reaction networks over two activity domains.
Fig. 6: Catalytic shunt strategy for other bifunctional systems with different activity domain II.

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Data availability

All data are available in the manuscript or the Supplementary Information. Additional data are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request. The structure part of ZnCrOx can be found at https://legacy.materialsproject.org/.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFA1203301 to F.W.), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22278238 to C.Z., 22238004 to F.W., 22275110 and 22322203 to X.C. and 52402053 to H.M.), the Key Research and Development Program of Inner Mongolia and Ordos (20211140095 to C.Z.) and the China National Petroleum Corporation Innovation Funds (2020990028 to C.Z.). This research was sponsored by the Tsinghua–Toyota Joint Research Fund (X.C. and F.W.). We acknowledge L. Song and S. Chen from the National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Nanoscience at the University of Science and Technology of China for their discussions on the synchrotron X-ray absorption spectra data.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Guo Tian, Zhengwen Li.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Reaction Engineering and Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Guo Tian, Zhengwen Li, Chenxi Zhang, Hao Xiong, Shuairen Qian, Xiaoyu Liang, Xiaoyu Fan, Binhang Yan, Xiao Chen & Fei Wei

  2. Ordos Laboratory, Ordos, China

    Duohua Liao, Chenxi Zhang, Xiao Chen & Fei Wei

  3. Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, P. R. China

    Hong-jie Peng & Xinyan Liu

  4. Key Laboratory of Quantum Physics and Photonic Quantum Information, Ministry of Education, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, P. R. China

    Xinyan Liu

  5. Key Laboratory of Fuel Cell Technology of Guangdong Province, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China

    Kui Shen

  6. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, P. R. China

    Haibing Meng

  7. Faculty of Environment and Life, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China

    Ning Wang

  8. Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Tianping Ying

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Contributions

G.T., C.Z., X.C. and F.W. designed the study. G.T., X.F. and D.L. synthesized the catalysts. G.T. and X.F. performed the catalytic tests. G.T., Z.L., D.L., X.F., K.S., N.W., X. Liang, H.X., H.M., S.Q., X.C., Z.L., H.-j.P., B.Y. and T.Y. conducted the characterizations. G.T., X. Liu and H.-j.P. contributed to the DFT calculations. G.T. wrote the paper. All the authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Chenxi Zhang, Xiao Chen or Fei Wei.

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Nature Sustainability thanks Jong Wook Bae, José Antonio Odriozola and Feng-Shou Xiao for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary Figs. 1–56, Tables 1–8 and References 1–42.

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Tian, G., Li, Z., Liao, D. et al. Efficient syngas conversion via catalytic shunt. Nat Sustain 8, 508–519 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01551-7

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