The Synergistic Effect of CuZnCeOx in Controlling the Formation of Methanol and CO from CO2 Hydrogenation

Abstract CO 2 hydrogenation will be essential for a sustainable society if methanol and CO can be efficiently obtained using appropriate catalysts. In this paper, a highly efficient CuZnCeO x catalyst was synthesized using a parallel flow coprecipitation method, and was evaluated in CO 2 hydrogenation to produce methanol and CO. Interestingly, the catalyst shows excellent activity and stability, and the selectivity of the products can be controlled by the amount of CeO x . Characterization results show that a significant synergistic effect between Cu and metal oxides (ZnO and/or CeO x ) was observed at the composite catalysts. Cu plays a critical role in the activation of H 2 , and CeO x strongly adsorbs CO 2 . CeO x improved the dispersion of Cu nanoparticles and promoted the spillover of atomic hydrogen, which was beneficial to the generation of methanol. Meanwhile, ZnO exhibited weak adsorption ability for CO 2 , which was beneficial for the generation of CO. In addition, ZnO can significantly improve the dispersion of the CeO x nanoparticles. Both the dispersion of active sites and the activation abilities of CO 2 are critical for catalyst activity and product selectivity. Thus, the ternary catalyst CuZnCeO x shows higher performance than the binary catalysts (CuZnO x and CuCeO x ) in the CO 2 hydrogenation reaction. This paper provides a viable way to produce selectively methanol or CO from CO 2 hydrogenation.