Due to the industrial revolution using coal in the mid-18th century and the discovery of crude oil in the 19th century, humankind has made rapid progress by developing technologies to mass-produce cheap fuels and chemicals. Korea also ranks 5^th in the world for its heavy chemical industry development strategy in the 1970s and has the 8^th largest oil refining industry in the world.In the 20^th century, rapid economic development was achieve globally through the use of fossil fuels such as crude oil and coal, but as a reward, the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere increased day by day and reached 420 ppm. It has reached a stage that threatens the survival of humankind, such as global warming, ecosystem destruction, sea-level rise and seawater acidification. 

ProfessorJae-Hoon Kim's research team (Department of Mechanical Engineering) at Sungkyunkwan University has developed a technology that can selectively produce fuels and value-added chemicals by reacting carbon dioxide emitted from industry with renewable hydrogen. The research is expected to contribute to mitigating climate change.

The research team developed a technology for synthesizing C₅₊ long-chain hydrocarbons that can be used as fuel for gasoline and diesel with high selectivity of 77.0% from CO₂ using an iron-based catalyst (Na-FeAlO_x) with an alumina promoter. The results were published in ACS Catalysis at 2020 [ACS Catalysis, 2020, 10, 10325−10338]. Through this study, the research team identified the principle of the synthesis mechanism of alpha-olefin, a precursor of aromatic compounds, in iron-based catalysts.

[Reaction mechanism of CO₂ in the Na-FeAlOx catalyst]

The research team confirmed that it was possible to produce aromatic compounds from carbon dioxide with a high CO₂ conversion rate of 45% and a high aromatic selectivity of 39% by using a composite catalyst combining iron-based catalyst and zeolite. The results were published in Applied Catalysis B:Environmental at 2022 [Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 2022, 301, 120813]. In particular, the selectivity of BTX among aromatic compounds was high at 59% by controlling the acid site of zeolite. The highly value-added aromatic compound refers to benzene, toluene, xylene, etc. These essential chemical materials rank first in total petro chemical production.

[Na-FeAlOx/zeolite Synthesis of aromatic compounds directly from CO2 in complex catalysts]

In addition, the research team developed the world's first process that can operate for over 1425 hours with a high yield of about 20% of  C₅₊ long-chain hydrocarbons from CO₂ using a cobalt-based catalyst. The results were published in Applied Catalysis B: Environmental at 2022 [AppliedCatalysis B: Environmental, 2022, 305, 121041]. Furthermore, the cobalt-based catalyst newly developed by the research team laid the foundation for the production of promising liquid fuels and lube base oils because the catalysts exhibit high C₅₊ and C₂₁₊ selectivity in the conversion of CO₂. In addition, the research team designed a nickel-zinc alloy catalyst capable of synthesizing high value-added chemical materials such as acetic acid and propionic acid by direct hydrogenation of CO₂, and published the results in ACS Catalysis at 2021 [ACS Catalysis, 2021, 11,8382–8398].

[Mechanism of direct long-chain hydrocarbon synthesis from CO₂ using Na-CoMnO_xcatalyst]

Currently,Professor Jae-Hoon Kim's research team is researching the possibility ofcommercialization in collaboration with a domestic oil refinery. It intends tocontribute to reducing national greenhouse gases in the future.