Carbon dioxide is both a major greenhouse gas and a potentially abundant carbon feedstock. The reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) reaction converts CO2 and H2 into CO, which can be used in the downstream production of alcohols, light hydrocarbons and liquid fuels. However, wider application of the reaction remains constrained by limited CO2 conversion at low and moderate temperatures, competing reactions such as methanation, and the high energy demand and catalyst instability associated with elevated temperatures.
A team of inorganic chemistry led by Professor Ming Xu and Professor Tingting Cui from Northeast Forestry University in China recently have prepared a comprehensive review of Pt-based catalysts for the RWGS reaction. The article systematically connects catalyst structure with CO2 activation, H2 dissociation, surface-intermediate conversion, CO desorption, product selectivity and long-term stability.
The team published their review in Nano Research on June 30, 2026.
Pt is attractive for RWGS catalysis because it dissociates H2 efficiently, activates and hydrogenates CO2, and shows relatively moderate adsorption of reaction intermediates. It also offers resistance to carbon deposition, sintering and poisoning under demanding reaction environments. Its scarcity and cost, however, make high atomic utilization essential. In addition, strong CO adsorption on conventional Pt surfaces can block active sites and suppress further activation of H2 and CO2.
The review organizes recent catalyst development into five structural design strategies: modulation of metal-support interactions, control of Pt particle size, construction of single-atom Pt sites, formation of bimetallic catalysts and incorporation of functional catalytic additives. Rather than treating these approaches as independent categories, the authors examine how each strategy changes the local coordination, electronic structure, defect environment and interfacial geometry of Pt.
"High RWGS activity and CO selectivity do not arise from isolated metallic Pt sites alone." The evidence reviewed instead points to structurally defined active centers, including Pt-reducible oxide interfaces, defect-anchored single atoms, sub-nanometer Pt clusters and functionally divided bimetallic ensembles. Metal-support interfaces can couple metallic or partially oxidized Pt with oxygen vacancies and variable-valence cations, strengthening CO2 adsorption and polarization, stabilizing carboxyl intermediates and weakening CO binding relative to extended metallic Pt surfaces.
A second focus is the identification of working-state active sites. The review integrates evidence from in-situ and operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and electron microscopy with density functional theory, ab initio molecular dynamics and microkinetic analysis. This combined approach shows that Pt active centers can reconstruct under reaction conditions and that different site types may favor different pathways and rate-determining steps. Oxygen-vacancy-rich Pt interfaces can promote redox pathways, whereas metallic Pt terraces and steps may be governed by CO-O bond cleavage. In associative pathways, the formation and decomposition of *COOH are frequently identified as kinetically critical steps.
The authors identify several priorities for future research: direct time-resolved observation of specific interfacial motifs under realistic temperatures and space velocities; improved stabilization of single-atom and sub-nanometer Pt species; quantitative links between active-site populations, reaction pathways and rate control; and deliberate construction of coupled sites that separate H2 activation from CO2 activation. Defect-rich composite supports with hierarchical porosity and controlled hydrophilic-hydrophobic balance may also improve heat and mass transfer while limiting water accumulation.
Other contributors include Xiaoyu Hu from Sinopec (Beijing) Research Institute of Chemical Industry Co., Ltd, Beijing and State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology; and Yingnan Tan, Yuanyuan Ma, Xiaohan Zhao from College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering & Resource Utilization, Center for Innovative Research in Synthetic Chemistry and Resource Utilization, Northeast Forestry University; Bin Wang from Sinopec (Beijing) Research Institute of Chemical Industry Co., Ltd, Beijing.
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22572021, No. 22379023, No. 52301011); China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2023M740555, 2025M771070, and 2025T180292); Heilongjiang Provincial Postdoctoral Science Foundation (LBH-Z23001, LBH-Z24003); Heilongjiang Provincial Key Research and Development Program Guidance Category Project (GZ20220073, GZ2024012); Heilongjiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation Outstanding Youth Fund Project (YQ2024B002, YQ2025B002); and the Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Catalysis (Grant No. N-22-07).
DOI Link:
https://doi.org/10.26599/NR.2026.94908727
About Nano Research
Nano Research is a peer-reviewed, open access, international and interdisciplinary research journal, sponsored by Tsinghua University and the Chinese Chemical Society, published by Tsinghua University Press on the platform SciOpen. It publishes original high-quality research and significant review articles on all aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology, ranging from basic aspects of the science of nanoscale materials to practical applications of such materials. After 18 years of development, it has become one of the most influential academic journals in the nano field. Nano Research has published more than 1,000 papers every year from 2022, with its cumulative count surpassing 8,000 articles. In 2025 InCites Journal Citation Reports, its 2025 IF is 9.4 (8.3, 5 years), and it continues to be the Q1 area among the four subject classifications. Nano Research Award, established by Nano Research together with TUP and Springer Nature in 2013, and Nano Research Young Innovators (NR45) Awards, established by Nano Research in 2018, have become international academic awards with global influence.
