ABSTRACT The reverse water gas shift (RWGS) reaction at temperatures below 500 K is a key process for achieving carbon recycling. The application of an electric field has attracted much attention in this respect; however, further improvements are still needed in terms of catalyst design. Herein, we report that the Pt (3) /MoO 3(30) /ZrO 2 catalyst (Pt = 3 wt%; MoO 3 = 30 wt%) exhibited outstanding CO yield (ca. 35%) with high CO selectivity (> 99%) under an electric field at 423 K. This system provided a new reaction pathway with lower apparent activation energy by only a small electric power input, enabling significant decreases in total energy consumption. Mechanistic studies revealed that the electric field‐assisted RWGS reaction over the Pt/MoO 3 /ZrO 2 catalyst proceeded through a redox mechanism involving lattice oxygen and oxygen vacancies. An electric field promotes not only proton formation and migration but also redox reactions associated with oxygen vacancies, allowing the RWGS reaction to proceed efficiently at low temperatures.
Tomozawa et al. (2026) studied this question.