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Title: Exploring the ternary interactions in Cu–ZnO–ZrO2 catalysts for efficient CO2 hydrogenation to methanol

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [2];  [4];  [5]
  1. Kunming Univ. of Science and Technology (China). State Key Lab. of Complex Nonferrous Metal Resources Clean Utilization Engineering. Faculty of Metallurgical and Energy Engineering
  2. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Chemistry Division
  3. Kunming Univ. of Science and Technology (China). State Key Lab. of Complex Nonferrous Metal Resources Clean Utilization Engineering; Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States). Dept. of Earth and Environmental Engineering
  4. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Chemistry Division; Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
  5. Kunming Univ. of Science and Technology (China). State Key Lab. of Complex Nonferrous Metal Resources Clean Utilization Engineering; Dali Univ. (China). School of Pharmacy and Chemistry
+ Show Author Affiliations

The synergistic interaction among different components in complex catalysts is one of the crucial factors in determining catalytic performance. Here we report the interactions among the three components in controlling the catalytic performance of Cu–ZnO–ZrO2 (CZZ) catalyst for CO2 hydrogenation to methanol. The in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) measurements under the activity test pressure (3 MPa) reveal that the CO2 hydrogenation to methanol on the CZZ catalysts follows the formate pathway. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations agree with the in situ DRIFTS measurements, showing that the ZnO–ZrO2 interfaces are the active sites for CO2 adsorption and conversion, while the presence of metallic Cu is also necessary to facilitate H2 dissociation and to provide hydrogen resource. The combined experiment and DFT results reveal that tuning the interaction between ZnO and ZrO2 can be considered as another important factor for designing high performance catalysts for methanol generation from CO2.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Kunming Univ. of Science and Technology (China)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); National Key Technologies R & D Program of China; Candidate Talents Training Fund of Yunnan Province (China)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; AC02-05CH11231; 51774159; 51304099; 51404122; 2011BAC01B03; 2014HB006
OSTI ID:
1504379
Report Number(s):
BNL-211494-2019-JAAM
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Vol. 10; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Solid-state interactions, adsorption sites and functionality of Cu-ZnO/ZrO2 catalysts in the CO2 hydrogenation to CH3OH journal November 2008
The changing nature of the active site of Cu-Zn-Zr catalysts for the CO2 hydrogenation reaction to methanol journal June 2014
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Cited By (3)

Rational Engineering of Multilayered Co 3 O 4 /ZnO Nanocatalysts through Chemical Transformations from Matryoshka‐Type ZIFs journal August 2019
CO2 hydrogenation to high-value products via heterogeneous catalysis journal December 2019
Selective hydrogenation of CO 2 over a Ce promoted Cu-based catalyst confined by SBA-15 journal January 2019

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