Bifunctionality of Cu/ZnO catalysts for alcohol-assisted low-temperature methanol synthesis from syngas: Effect of copper content

Alcohol-assisted low-temperature methanol synthesis was conducted over Cu/ZnO_X catalysts while varying the copper content (X). Unlike conventional methanol synthesis, ethanol acted as both solvent and reaction intermediate in this reaction, creating a different reaction pathway. The formation of crystalline phases and characteristic morphology of the co-precipitated precursors during the co-precipitation step were important factors in obtaining an efficient Cu/ZnO catalyst with a high dispersion of metallic copper, which is one of the main active sites for methanol synthesis. The acidic properties of the Cu/ZnO catalyst were also revealed as important factors, since alcohol esterification is considered the rate-limiting step in alcohol-assisted low-temperature methanol synthesis. As a consequence, bifunctionality of the Cu/ZnO catalyst such as metallic copper and acidic properties was required for this reaction. In this respect, the copper content (X) strongly affected the catalytic activity of the Cu/ZnO_X catalysts, and accordingly, the Cu/ZnO_0.5 catalyst with a high copper dispersion and sufficient acid sites exhibited the best catalytic performance in this reaction.