Constructing Frustrated Lewis Acid‐Base Pairs on Ternary CrFeNiO x Promotes Photothermal CO ₂ Hydrogenation

Photothermal catalytic CO 2 reduction is regarded as a potential solution to the energy and environmental crises due to its ability to mildly achieve the dual goals of carbon reduction and the synthesis of high‐value chemicals. However, the inherent chemical inertness of CO 2 molecules severely restricts the reduction efficiency. Herein, a spinel‐type metal oxide (CrFeNiO x ) catalyst with frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) is synthesized by calcination using layered metal hydroxides as precursors. Benefiting from the oxygen vacancies (Lewis acid sites) and adjacent lattice oxygen (Lewis base sites) jointly constituting FLPs, CrFeNiO x exhibits an excellent CO evolution rate of 54.5 mmol g −1 h −1 , with a selectivity of 96.6%. Importantly, it can be directly applied to the flue gas conversion and maintain a good catalytic performance. The experimental results show that the presence of FLPs promotes the adsorption and activation of CO 2 . This work provides new possibilities for the development of highly efficient photothermal catalysts.