[Ce<sup>3+</sup>–O<sub>V</sub>–Ce<sup>4+</sup>] Located Surface-Distributed Sheet Cu–Zn–Ce Catalysts for Methanol Production by CO<sub>2</sub> Hydrogenation
Xuguang Wang, Yaxin Liu, Zihao Wang, Jianhua Song, Xue Li, Cheng Xu, Yuanxiang Xu, Ling Zhang, Weizhong Bao, Bin Sun, Lei Wang, Dianhua Liu
Abstract
The metal–support interaction is crucial for the performance of Cu-based catalysts. However, the distinctive properties of the support metal element itself are often overlooked in catalyst design. In this paper, a sheet Cu–Zn–Ce with [Ce 3+ –O V –Ce 4+ ] located on the surface was designed by the sol–gel method. Through EPR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the relationship between the content of oxygen vacancies and Ce was revealed. Ce itself induces the generation of [Ce 3+ –O V –Ce 4+ ]. Through ICP-MS, XPS, and SEM-mapping, the Ce-induced formation of [Ce 3+ –O V –Ce 4+ ] located on the catalyst surface was demonstrated. CO 2 -TPD and DFT calculations further revealed that [Ce 3+ –O V –Ce 4+ ] enhanced CO 2 adsorption, leading to a 10% increase in methanol selectivity compared to Cu–Zn–Ce synthesized via the coprecipitation method.