The integration of electromagnetic energy into a thermal reaction is beneficial in catalytic performance and product distribution. To date, such a photothermal strategy has mainly been applied to relatively low-temperature reactions, such as CO2 hydrogenation, and its application to high-temperature reactions has yet to be explored. Herein, electromagnetic energy is successfully introduced into a tandem ethane dehydrogenation and CO2 hydrogenation system over a Zn-based catalyst. According to the experiments and theoretical simulations, light enables a new reverse water-gas shift reaction, which consumes the produced H2 and thus right shifts the ethane dehydrogenation reaction and enhances the catalytic performance. The resulting ethylene rate could achieve 11.5 mmol g~(-1) h~(-1) with a selectivity of 96, and the estimated external quantum efficiency is up to 18.85 under weak light intensity (2 sun). In the meantime, the ethylene rate could be improved by about 600-fold with higher light intensities.
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