Higher alcohols synthesis from syngas over lanthanum-promoted CuZnAl catalyst

Abstract CuZnAl catalysts with different La loadings were prepared by a complete liquid phase method and tested for higher alcohols (C2+OH) synthesis from syngas at the conditions of 250–290 °C, 4.5 MPa, feed low rate = 150 mL/min and H2/CO = 2. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, H2-TPR, NH3-TPD, N2 adsorption, XPS, and TEM techniques. Characterization results showed that the incorporation of La into CuZnAl catalysts resulted in the decrease of crystallite size of Cu0 and a strong interaction among copper and zinc or aluminum oxides. Especially, the incorporation of La increased the amount of weak acid and the Cu content on catalyst surface, which was speculated to contribute the formation of higher alcohols. Among these La-promoted CuZnAl catalysts, the La0.1 catalyst exhibited the best catalytic performance and the selectivity to higher alcohols reached above 60% when the reaction temperature was 290 °C.