Mechanistic study of non-thermal plasma assisted CO2 hydrogenation over Ru supported on MgAl layered double hydroxide

•NTP-activated Ru/MgAl catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation with high CO2 conversion and CH4 yield at mild conditions.•Reduction temperature affects the catalysts’ properties, and thus influencing the catalysis under plasma conditions.•In situ DRIFTS-MS shows that NTP-catalysis enables the alternative surface pathways for promoting CO2 hydrogenations.