Light-driven methanol-to-olefins catalysis over W18O49/SAPO-34 hierarchical nanocomposite with strong photothermal effect

Solar-light-driven photothermal catalysis attracts attention because of the significant energy savings and environmental friendliness compared with thermal catalysis. In the present work, W18O49/SAPO-34 composite materials with hierarchical pore networks were constructed by a simple hydrothermal method, and applied into photothermal catalysis for methanol-to-olefins transformation. In combination of the broaden light absorption of W18O49 and moderate acid site of SAPO-34, the W18O49/SAPO-34 composite showed a rapid temperature rise on the surface of the catalysts due to the strong photo-to-thermal effect of W18O49. Methanol conversion of 90% and ethylene selectivity of 60 % were achieved for the optimized W18O49/SAPO-34 catalyst, much higher than that of bare W18O49 and SAPO-34. The excellent methanol dehydration performance was attributed to the strong plasmonic absorption in the visible and near infrared light, the efficient photothermal conversion effect by localized plasmon heating on the W18O49 nanorods, and synergistic catalysis between W18O49 and SAPO-34. This photothermal catalyst showed great potential in the industrial applications of photocatalytic methanol-to-olefins conversion.