Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Perspective
  • Published:

The renaissance of the Sabatier reaction and its applications on Earth and in space

Nature Catalysis volume 2, pages 188–197 (2019)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

The Sabatier reaction (that is, CO2 methanation) is undergoing a revival for two main reasons. First, the power-to-gas concept offers the prospect of large-scale recycling of (point source) CO2 emissions, in combination with the use of large quantities of renewable energy to form methane. When this can be achieved in a cost-effective manner, it can use the gas distribution infrastructure that already exists. However, methanation is no simple panacea to the detrimental environmental effect of CO2 emissions, and reaction products other than methane should also be targeted. Second, methanation has been identified as an important reaction to facilitate long-term space exploration missions by space agencies, such as NASA. This Perspective discusses the current understanding of CO2 hydrogenation within these concepts, from fundamental mechanistic aspects to several parameters that will ultimately define its technical and economic feasibility on Earth and in space, as we transition into the era of small-molecule activation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Carbon budget and future scenarios.
Fig. 2: Schematic overview of the proposed pathways towards non-fossil-based fuels and chemicals.
Fig. 3: Possible reaction pathways for the methanation of CO2.
Fig. 4: An overview of TOF trends found in the literature for thermocatalytic and electrocatalytic CO2 reduction.
Fig. 5: Structure sensitivity in thermocatalytic and electrochemical CO2 reduction.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Senderens, J.-B. & Sabatier, P. Nouvelles synthèses du méthane. Comptes Rendus Acad. Sci. 82 514–516 (1902). .

  2. Sabatier, P. & Reid, E. E. Catalysis in Organic Chemistry. 2nd edn, (D. van Nostrand Company, New York, 1923).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Sabatier, P. & Senderens, J.-B. Hydrogénation directe des oxydes du carbone en présence de divers métaux divisés. Comptes Rendus Acad. Sci. 134, 689–691 (1903).

  4. Artz, J. et al. Sustainable conversion of carbon dioxide: an integrated review of catalysis and life cycle assessment. Chem. Rev. 118, 434–504 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Rönsch, S. et al. Review on methanation — from fundamentals to current projects. Fuel 166, 276–296 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Álvarez, A. et al. CO2 activation over catalytic surfaces. ChemPhysChem 18, 3135–3141 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Prieto, G. Carbon dioxide hydrogenation into higher hydrocarbons and oxygenates: thermodynamic and kinetic bounds and progress with heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysis. ChemSusChem 10, 1056–1070 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Yang, H. et al. A review of catalytic hydrogenation of carbon dioxide into value-added hydrocarbons. Catal. Sci. Technol. 7, 4580–4598 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Kattel, S., Liu, P. & Chen, J. G. Tuning selectivity of CO2 hydrogenation reactions at the metal/oxide interface. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 139 9739–9754 (2017).

  10. Rogelj, J. et al. Differences between carbon budget estimates unravelled. Nat. Clim. Change 6, 245–252 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Hausfather, F. Analysis: how much ‘carbon budget’ is left to limit global warming to 1.5C? Carbon Brief (9 April 2018); https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-how-much-carbon-budget-is-left-to-limit-global-warming-to-1-5c

  12. Ricke, K. L. & Caldeira, K. Maximum warming occurs about one decade after a carbon dioxide emission. Environ. Res. Lett. 9, 124002–124010 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Schlögl, R. The revolution continues: energiewende 2.0. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 54, 4436–4439 (2015).

  14. van Vuuren, D. P. et al. Alternative pathways to the 1.5 °C target reduce the need for negative emission technologies. Nat. Clim. Change 8, 391–397 (2018).

  15. Shell Scenarios: Sky — Meeting the Goals of the Paris Agreement (Shell, 2018).

  16. Anderson, K. & Peters, G. The promise of negative emissions. Science 354, 354–355 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Kramer, G. J. & Haigh, M. No quick switch to low-carbon energy. Nature 462, 568–569 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Majumdar, A. & Deutch, J. M. Research opportunities for CO2 utilization and negative emissions at the gigatonne-scale. Joule 2, 805–809 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Bui, M. et al. Carbon capture and storage (CCS): the way forward. Energy Environ. Sci. 11, 1062–1176 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. IPCC Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (eds Metz, B., Davidson, O., de Coninck, H. C., Loos, M. & Meyer, L. A.) (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1975).

  21. Kim, S. M. et al. Integrated CO2 capture and conversion as an efficient process for fuels from greenhouse gases. ACS Catal. 8, 2815–2823 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Stolaroff, J. K., Lowry, G. V. & Keith, D. W. Using CaO- and MgO-rich industrial waste streams for carbon sequestration. Energy Convers. Manag. 46, 687–699 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. House, K. Z. et al. Economic and energetic analysis of capturing CO2 from ambient air. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 108, 20428–20433 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Koytsoumpa, E. I., Bergins, C. & Kakaras, E. The CO2 economy: review of CO2 capture and reuse technologies. J. Supercrit. Fluids 132, 3–16 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Keith, D. W., Holmes, G., St. Angelo, D. & Heidel, K. A Process for capturing CO2 from the atmosphere. Joule 2, 1573–1594 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Schlögl, R. E. Mobility and the energy transition. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 56, 11019–11022 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Heide, D. et al. Seasonal optimal mix of wind and solar power in a future, highly renewable Europe. Renew. Energy 35, 2483–2489 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Götz, M. et al. Renewable power-to-gas: a technological and economic review. Renew. Energy 85, 1371–1390 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Gonzalez-Salazar, M. A., Kirsten, T. & Prchlik, L. Review of the operational flexibility and emissions of gas- and coal-fired power plants in a future with growing renewables. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 82, 1497–1513 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Benchmarking of large scale hydrogen underground storage with competing options (HyUnder, 2014).

  31. Zhang, C. Hydrogen storage: improving reversibility. Nat. Energy 2, 17064 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Aakko-Saksa, P. T., Cook, C., Kiviaho, J. & Repo, T. Liquid organic hydrogen carriers for transportation and storing of renewable energy — review and discussion. J. Power Sources 396, 803–823 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Younas, M. et al. Recent advancements, fundamental challenges, and opportunities in catalytic methanation of CO2. Energy Fuels 30, 8815–8831 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Audi e-gas plant qualified to participate in balancing market to stabilize grid. Green Car Congress (15 July 2015); https://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/07/20150715-egas.html

  35. The Sabatier system. NASA (12 May 2011); https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/sabatier.html

  36. Muscatello, A. & Santiago-Maldonado, E. Mars in situ resource utilization technology evaluation. In American 50th AIAA Aeorospace Sciences Meeting https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2012-360 (AIAA, 2012).

  37. Wang, W., Wang, S., Ma, X. & Gong, J. Recent advances in catalytic hydrogenation of carbon dioxide. Chem. Soc. Rev. 40, 3703–3727 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Munnik, P., Velthoen, M. E. Z., de Jongh, P. E., De Jong, K. P. & Gommes, C. J. Nanoparticle growth in supported nickel catalysts during methanation reaction-larger is better. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 53, 9493–9497 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Vogt, C. et al. Unravelling structure sensitivity in CO2 hydrogenation over nickel. Nat. Catal. 1, 127–134 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Heine, C., Lechner, B. A. J., Bluhm, H. & Salmeron, M. Recycling of CO2: probing the chemical state of the Ni(111) surface during the methanation reaction with ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 138, 13246–13252 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Silaghi, M., Comas-Vives, A. & Copéret, C. CO2 activation on Ni/γ−Al2O3 catalysts by first-principles calculations: from ideal surfaces to supported nanoparticles. ACS Catal. 6, 4501–4505 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Weatherbee, G. D. & Bartholomew, C. H. Hydrogenation of CO2 on group VIII metals II. Kinetics and mechanism on nickel. J. Catal. 77, 460–472 (1982).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Avanesian, T. et al. Quantitative and atomic-scale view of CO-induced Pt nanoparticle surface reconstruction at saturation coverage via DFT calculations coupled with in situ TEM and IR. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 139, 4551–4558 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Studt, F. et al. Discovery of a Ni-Ga catalyst for carbon dioxide reduction to methanol. Nat. Chem. 6, 320–324 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Wang, W. H., Himeda, Y., Muckerman, J. T., Manbeck, G. F. & Fujita, E. CO2 hydrogenation to formate and methanol as an alternative to photo- and electrochemical CO2 reduction. Chem. Rev. 115, 12936–12973 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Kunkes, E. L., Studt, F., Abild-Pedersen, F., Schlögl, R. & Behrens, M. Hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol and CO on Cu/ZnO/Al2O3: is there a common intermediate or not? J. Catal. 328, 43–48 (2015).

  47. Kitamura Bando, K., Sayama, K., Kusuma, H., Okabe, K. & Arakawa, H. In-situ FT-IR study on CO2 hydrogenation over Cu catalysts supported on SiO2, Al2O3, and TiO2. Appl. Catal. A 165, 391–409 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Andersson, M. P. et al. Structure sensitivity of the methanation reaction: H2-induced CO dissociation on nickel surfaces. J. Catal. 255, 6–19 (2008).

  49. Abdel-Mageed, A. M., Eckle, S., Anfang, H. G. & Behm, R. J. Selective CO methanation in CO2-rich H2 atmospheres over a Ru/zeolite catalyst: the influence of catalyst calcination. J. Catal. 298, 148–160 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Galletti, C., Specchia, S., Saracco, G. & Specchia, V. CO-selective methanation over Ru-γ-Al2O3 catalysts in H2-rich gas for PEM FC applications. Chem. Eng. Sci. 65, 590–596 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. Iablokov, V. et al. Size-controlled model Co nanoparticle catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation: synthesis, characterization, and catalytic reactions. Nano Lett. 12, 3091–3096 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  52. Sehested, J., Dahl, S., Jacobsen, J. & Rostrup-Nielsen, J. R. Methanation of CO over nickel: mechanism and kinetics at high H2/CO ratios. J. Phys. Chem. B 109, 2432–2438 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Zhu, W. et al. Active and selective conversion of CO2 to CO on ultrathin Au nanowires. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 136, 16132–16135 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  54. Crampton, A. S. et al. Structure sensitivity in the nonscalable regime explored via catalysed ethylene hydrogenation on supported platinum nanoclusters. Nat. Commun. 7, 10389 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Yang, H. B. et al. Atomically dispersed Ni(i) as the active site for electrochemical CO2 reduction. Nat. Energy 3, 140–147 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  56. Van Helden, P., Ciobica, I. M. & Coetzer, R. L. J. The size-dependent site composition of FCC cobalt nanocrystals. Catal. Today 261, 48–59 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Cargnello, M. et al. Control of metal nanocrystal size reveals metal-support interface role for ceria catalysts. Science 341, 771–773 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  58. Larmier, K. et al. CO2-to-methanol hydrogenation on zirconia-supported copper nanoparticles: reaction intermediates and the role of the metal–support interface. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 56, 2318–2323 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  59. Kattel, S. et al. CO2 hydrogenation over oxide-supported PtCo catalysts: the role of the oxide support in determining the product selectivity. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 55, 7968–7973 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  60. Li, S. et al. Tuning the selectivity of the catalytic CO2 hydrogenation reaction by strong metal–support interaction. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 56, 10761–10765 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  61. Abate, S. et al. Catalytic performance of γ–Al2O3–ZrO2–TiO2–CeO2 composite oxide supported Ni-based catalysts for CO2 methanation. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 55, 4451–4460 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  62. Mebrahtu, C. et al. Hydrotalcite based Ni-Fe/(Mg, Al)Ox catalysts for CO2 methanation-tailoring Fe content for improved CO dissociation, basicity, and particle size. Catal. Sci. Technol. 8, 1016–1027 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  63. Aldana, P. A. U. et al. Catalytic CO2 valorization into CH4 on Ni-based ceria-zirconia. Reaction mechanism by operando IR spectroscopy. Catal. Today 215, 201–207 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  64. Mutz, B. et al. Potential of an alumina-supported Ni3Fe catalyst in the methanation of CO2: impact of alloy formation on activity and stability. ACS Catal. 7, 6802–6814 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  65. Kustov, A. L. et al. CO methanation over supported bimetallic Ni-Fe catalysts: from computational studies towards catalyst optimization. Appl. Catal. A 320, 98–104 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  66. Sehested, J. et al. Discovery of technical methanation catalysts based on computational screening. Top. Catal. 45, 9–13 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  67. Liang, B. et al. Promoting role of potassium in the reverse water gas shift reaction on Pt/mullite catalyst. Catal. Today 281, 319–326 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  68. Cybulskis, V. J., Wang, J., Pazmiño, J. H., Ribeiro, F. H. & Delgass, W. N. Isotopic transient studies of sodium promotion of Pt/Al2O3 for the water-gas shift reaction. J. Catal. 339, 163–172 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  69. Zhou, M. & Liu, B. DFT investigation on the competition of the water–gas shift reaction versus methanation on clean and potassium-modified nickel(111) surfaces. ChemCatChem 7, 3928–3935 (2015).

  70. Ertl, G., Knözinger, H., Schüth, F. & Weitkamp, J. Handbook of Heterogeneous Catalysis 2nd edn, (Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2008).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  71. Hou, C. T. Handbook of Industrial Biocatalysis (CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2005).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  72. Hori, Y. in Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry Vol. 42 (eds Vayenas C. G., White R. E. & Gamboa-Aldeco M. E.) 89–189 (Springer, 2008).

  73. Feng, J., Zeng, S., Feng, J., Dong, H. & Zhang, X. CO2 electroreduction in ionic liquids: a review. Chin. J. Chem. 36, 961–970 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  74. Dinh, C.-T. et al. CO2 electroreduction to ethylene via hydroxide-mediated copper catalysis at an abrupt interface. Science 360, 783–787 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  75. Xin, L. et al. Electricity storage in biofuels: selective electrocatalytic reduction of levulinic acid to valeric acid or γ–valerolactone. ChemSusChem 6, 674–686 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  76. Qiu, Y. et al. Integrated electrocatalytic processing of levulinic acid and formic acid to produce biofuel intermediate valeric acid. Green Chem. 16, 1305–1315 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  77. Kim, H. J., Lee, J., Green, S. K., Huber, G. W. & Kim, W. B. Selective glycerol oxidation by electrocatalytic dehydrogenation. ChemSusChem 7, 1051–1054 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  78. Kim, H. J. et al. Efficient eletrooxidation of biomass-derived glycerol over a graphene-supported PtRu electrocatalyst. Electrochem. Commun. 13, 890–893 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  79. Hahn, C. et al. Engineering Cu surfaces for the electrocatalytic conversion of CO2: controlling selectivity toward oxygenates and hydrocarbons. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 114, 5918–5923 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  80. Ni, Y. et al. Selective conversion of CO2 and H2 into aromatics. Nat. Commun. 9, 3457 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  81. Bai, S. et al. Highly active and selective hydrogenation of CO2 to ethanol by ordered Pd-Cu nanoparticles. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 139, 6827–6830 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  82. Kowalczyk, Z. et al. Supported ruthenium catalysts for selective methanation of carbon oxides at very low COx/H2 ratios. Appl. Catal. A 342, 35–39 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  83. Fechete, I. Paul Sabatier — the father of the chemical theory of catalysis. Comptes Rendus Chim. 19, 1374–1381 (2016).

  84. Guidance for Transporting Ammonia by Rail (European Fertilizer Manufacturer Association, 2007).

  85. Furler, P. et al. Solar kerosene from H2O and CO2. In AIP Conf. Proc. 1850, 100006 (2017).

  86. Martin, N. M. et al. Structure–function relationship during CO2 methanation over Rh/Al2O3 and Rh/SiO2 catalysts under atmospheric pressure conditions. Catal. Sci. Technol. 8, 2686–2696 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  87. Marwood, M., Doepper, R. & Renken, A. In-situ surface and gas phase analysis for kinetic studies under transient conditions — the catalytic hydrogenation of CO2. Appl. Catal. A 151, 223–246 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) Gravitation program, Netherlands Center for Multiscale Catalytic Energy Conversion (MCEC), the Advanced Research Center Chemical Building Blocks Consortium (ARC CBBC) as well as from NWO in the form of a TA-CHIPP grant. H. Wiersma (Utrecht University) is acknowledged for his literature search and executing exploratory calculations.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis Group, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Charlotte Vogt, Matteo Monai & Bert M. Weckhuysen

  2. Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Gert Jan Kramer

Authors
  1. Charlotte Vogt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Matteo Monai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gert Jan Kramer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Bert M. Weckhuysen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

C.V. and B.M.W. conceived the theme. C.V., M.M. and B.M.W. wrote the manuscript and designed the schemes and figures. G.J.K. contributed with insights and discussions. All authors contributed data and insights, discussed and edited the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bert M. Weckhuysen.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Tables 1–2, Supplementary References

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Vogt, C., Monai, M., Kramer, G.J. et al. The renaissance of the Sabatier reaction and its applications on Earth and in space. Nat Catal 2, 188–197 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-019-0244-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-019-0244-4

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing