On the Role of Alkali-Metal-Like Superatom Al12P in Reduction and Conversion of Carbon Dioxide

Abstract

Developing efficient catalysts for the conversion of CO2 into fuels and value-added chemicals is of great significance to relieve the growing energy crisis and global warming. With the assistance of DFT calculations, it was found that, different from Al12X (X=Be, Al, and C), the alkali-metal-like superatom Al12P prefers to combine with CO2 via a bidentate double oxygen coordination, yielding a stable Al12P(η2-O2C) complex containing an activated radical anion of CO2 (i.e., CO2.−). Thereby, this compound could not only participate in the subsequent cycloaddition reaction with propylene oxide but also initiate the radical reaction with hydrogen gas to form high-value chemicals, revealing that Al12P can play an important role in catalyzing these conversion reactions. Considering that Al12P has been produced in laboratory and is capable of absorbing visible light to drive the activation and transformation of CO2, it is anticipated that this work could guide the discovery of additional superatom catalysts for CO2 transformation and open up a new research field of superatom catalysis.