Efficient CO2 hydrogenation over mono- and bi-metallic RuNi/MCM-41 catalysts: controlling CH4 and CO products distribution through the preparation method and/or partial replacement of Ni by RuEfficient CO2 hydrogenation over mono- and bi-metallic RuNi/MCM-41 catalysts: controlling CH4 and CO products distribution through the preparation method and/or partial replacement of Ni by Ru Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication Δημοσίευση σε Περιοδικό με Κριτές 2025-09-102023enCO2 methanation is receiving special attention nowadays due to the urgent environmental and energy need to control/recycle CO2 emissions. Herein the reaction is investigated over mono- and bi-metallic RuNi catalysts supported on mesoporous MCM-41 materials. Monometallic-Ru catalysts were always superior to their monometallic-Ni counterparts, while the bimetallic-RuNi, although outperforming monometallic-Ni, were inferior to monometallic-Ru. The CO2 methanation efficiency of monometallic-Ni catalysts was found to be highly dependent on the catalyst preparation method: One-pot synthesis provided catalysts almost completely ineffective for methanation, but very effective for the reverse-water–gas-shift (RWGS) reaction producing syngas at low temperatures. In striking contrast, compositionally identical Ni catalysts prepared by impregnation were efficient in CO2 methanation. An important for practical purposes redispersion of already stabilized large Ni crystallites was achieved by adding small amounts of Ru via the formation of core(Ru)-shell(Ni) nano-configurations. Detailed characterizations, kinetic and in-situ DRIFTS studies allowed the convincing interpretation of the novel findings.This research has been co-financed by the European Union and Greek national funds through the Greece 2.0 National Recovery and Resilience Fund, under the call RESEARCH - CREATE - INNOVATE (projects code: T1EDK-00782 and T2EDK-00955)http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Chemical Engineering Journal474 Rontogianni Anatoli Ροντογιαννη Ανατολη Chalmpes Nikolaos Nikolaraki Ersi Νικολαρακη Ερση Botzolaki Georgia Μποτζολακη Γεωργια Androulakis Athanasios Ανδρουλακης Αθανασιος Stratakis Antonios Στρατακης Αντωνιος Zygouri Panagiota Moschovas Dimitrios Avgeropoulos Apostolos Karakassides Michael A. Gournis Dimitrios Tsatsos Sotirios Kyriakou Georgios Boukos Nikos Panagiotopoulou Paraskevi Παναγιωτοπουλου Παρασκευη Gentekakis Ioannis Γεντεκακης Ιωαννης Elsevier CO hydrogenation RuNi bimetallic catalysts Μesoporous MCM-41 silica CO methanation Sabatier reaction