Ternary synergistic interaction of Cu-ZnO-ZrO2 promoting CO2 hydrogenation to methanol
Pengcheng Luo, Peixiang Shi, Zhiqiang Yan, Jiahao Han, Jingjing Wang, Yanchun Li, Hongyan Ban, Weijie Cai, Congming Li
Abstract
The effectiveness of Cu-ZnO-ZrO 2 (CZZ) catalysts is largely influenced by the cooperative interaction between the three components. This study involved the preparation of various CZZ catalysts by altering the molar ratio of Cu/Zn to adjust the ternary synergy of Cu-ZnO-ZrO 2 , with the aim of examining its impact on the hydrogenation of CO 2 to methanol. The characterization results including XRD , Raman, TEM, SEM , and XPS confirmed that the formed CuZn alloy over catalyst surface and the intimate Cu-ZnO x interface were the main reasons for the good activity. In-situ DRIFTS showed that CO 2 hydrogenation primarily followed the formate pathway on CZZ catalysts. The interactions between ZnO and ZrO 2 greatly enhanced the generation of oxygen vacancies , improved the adsorption and activation of CO 2 , and further stabilized the formate species which formed on ZnO-ZrO 2 interfaces. Copper species played a vital role in H 2 dissociation and formate intermediates to methoxide .