Investigation of the CO2 reaction mechanisms on CeO2(111) and Ni/CeO2(111) using density functional theory

摘要

High energy consumption is one of the major problems of our society created by high-velocity means of transportation such as airplanes, by heating systems or the simple use of electric light. Most of this energy is provided by combustion of fossil fuels. It is assumed that, due to the rising demand of energy, natural resources of oil will be consumed within the next 80 years. These data call for alternative energy production methods based on renewable sources such as wind or solar energy. Another promising possibility, however, is the production of hydrocarbons from CO2 and hydrogen produced from solar energy. In fact, it has been shown that solar energy is capable to initiate the dissociation of H2O and CO2 on a CeO2 catalyst. Moreover, CeO2 is a highly interesting material for CO2 storage and subsequent reduction due to its superior redox capacity.