Improving the efficiency of CO₂ methanation using a combination of plasma and molecular sieves

In recent years, the chemical reactions with plasma catalysis have been attracted attention. The interaction between plasma ant catalyst can wide the process window, realizing the low pressure and low temperature processes with various catalysts. However, the wide process range make it difficult to optimization for social implement. The key lies in elucidating the reaction mechanism, predicting reactions through numerical simulations, and deriving optimal conditions. On the other hand, recent research has suggested that the use of molecular sieves (MS) can improve methanation efficiency. This can be combined with catalysts, offering new potential applications of MS in chemical reactions. Here, we investigated the more efficient combination of plasma and MS and their reaction mechanisms. As a result, it was found that: 1. The use of MS reduces the oxidation source in the gas phase, leading to an increase in methanation efficiency by suppressing reverse reactions. 2. The adsorption effect of MS, which suppress the reverse reaction, increases with higher pressure. 3. MS in plasma decrease the energy in plasma decrease the energy within the plasma, reducing the CO₂ decomposition rate due to electron impact.