Direct thermolysis of CO2 into CO and O2

Abstract

Most of the solar-driven thermochemical CO₂ dissociation reactions have been focused on two-step processes. In this study, a one step CO₂ thermolysis process was considered. It was found that direct thermolysis of CO₂ obviously occurred at temperatures as low as 1200 °C within a corundum tube. The reaction rate could be enhanced by several times in the presence of metal oxides, which may be attributed to the catalysis of oxygen vacancies in the metal oxides.