Cobalt supported on indium oxide decorated by copper as a selective and stable catalyst for CO2 hydrogenation to methanol

We report a new synthesis strategy for InCo and InCoCu catalysts for the direct synthesis of methanol from carbon dioxide. The materials consist predominantly of ∼11 nm cobalt oxide nanoparticles dispersed on an indium oxide matrix. In the binary InCo catalyst, cobalt is predominantly present as Co 3 + . The incorporation of copper promotes cobalt reduction, leading to CoO as the dominant cobalt phase. In the ternary InCoCu system, copper is primarily metallic, although cationic species, especially Cu⁺, are also observed. As a result, the active structures in these catalysts differ fundamentally from those previously proposed for InCo systems. This new structural arrangement suppresses methane formation while preserving methanol productivity, yielding a product stream with a high methanol-to-methane molar ratio. Notably, copper incorporation achieves these improvements without compromising catalytic activity or stability.