Hierarchically porous bimetallic oxide derived from a metal-organic framework for the promotion of catalytic CO2 chemical fixation.

Chemical carbon dioxide (CO 2) fixation over heterogenous catalysts under more realistic conditions enables the acceleration of the global carbon cycle. Despite the recent advances, many catalysts often suffer from chemical lability, mass transfer resistance, as well as single catalytic species. To this end, this work demonstrates a metal-organic framework (MOF)-templated thermolysis to give bimetallic oxides, Cu x Zn y -BMOs, featuring hierarchically porous structures. By varying the initial molar ratio of Cu/Zn, the local coordination environment can be adjusted, thus regulating the type and quantity of active species. Together with its abundant active sites and appropriate pore size, the optimized Cu 1 Zn 2 -BMO not only achieves a high activity (98% yield) for the coupling of CO 2 and epichlorohydrin under solvent-free mild conditions, but also promotes the N-formylation of CO 2 with amines. Worthy to note, the decent chemical stability endows Cu 1 Zn 2 -BMO with almost unchanged performance even after long exposure to humidity. Our study offers a reliable strategy for the structure regulation of catalysts to enhance practical CO 2 catalytic conversion. [Display omitted] • Synthesis of hierarchically porous bimetallic oxides by a MOF-templated process. • Surface active species can be adjusted by varying the initial molar ratio of Cu/Zn. • Cu 1 Zn 2 -BMO shows high activity for CO 2 cycloaddition and N-formylation of CO 2 with amines. • High yield can be maintained even after a long-time moisture exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]