Tuning of Cu-ZnO Interaction on Nanoflower-Like Cu/ZnO Catalyst for the Hydrogenation of Methyl Acetate

The selective synthesis of ethanol (EtOH) from the hydrogenation of methyl acetate (MA) is an environmentally friendly chemical technology in the modern chemical industry. This work reported a one-step hydrothermal method aimed to tune the Cu-ZnO interaction and the various copper species of Cu/ZnO catalysts for MA hydrogenation. The samples were characterized with various methods, including nitrogen adsorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In comparison with the Cu/ZnO catalysts prepared using a hydrothermal-ammonia evaporation method and a coprecipitation method, the nanoflower-like Cu/ZnO catalyst prepared via the one-step hydrothermal method achieves superior activity in MA hydrogenation. The presence of Cu-ZnO interaction promotes the high dispersion of active species and produces more Cu-ZnOx structures to increase the proportion of Cu+. The open nanoflower-like structure ensures a large specific surface area and better accessibility of the active sites for the adsorption of reactants.