CO2 methanation with Ru@MIL-101 nanoparticles fixated on silica nanofibrous veils as stand-alone structured catalytic carrier

An important challenge in the valorization of CO2 and H2 into fuels is the development of a stable, reusable and easy to handle heterogeneous catalyst. Here, a silica nanofibrous membrane is investigated as carrier for Ru nanoparticles, themselves encapsulated inside the metal organic framework (MOF) Cr-MIL-101. The catalytic membrane is investigated for the Sabatier methanation reaction. The direct electrospinning of a tetraorthosilicate (TEOS) sol results in a highly thermal resistant silica nanofibrous structure (up to 1100 °C) with pores between the fibers in the µm-range, allowing a high gas throughput with low pressure requirements. A straightforward dip-coating procedure of the carrier was used to obtain a Ru@MIL-101 functionalized silica nanofibrous veil, avoiding Ru clustering. The obtained catalytic membrane exhibited an apparent turnover frequency of 3257 h-1 at 250 °C. This system therefore paves the way towards structured reactors for efficient CO2 hydrogenation processes. [Display omitted] •Long-term stable MIL-101-encapsulated Ru nanoparticles were synthesized.•Direct electrospinning of silica sol resulted in a thermal stable catalytic carrier.•Optimized Ru@MIL-101 dip-coated silica nanofibers as heterogeneous catalytic veil.•Ru@MIL-101@Silica nanofibrous veil show stable on-stream CO2 methanation.