Producing Methanol from CO2 on Cu–Zn-Catalyst on Commercial Supports: Effect of the Support and Conditions of the Reaction

Abstract

The catalytic properties of Cu–Zn catalysts are investigated on such commercial supports as Al₂O₃, SiO₂, ZrO₂(La), TiO₂, ZnO, and activated carbon in the reaction of CO₂ hydrogenation with the production of methanol. CuZn/Al₂O₃ catalyst displays the highest conversion of CO₂. The highest selectivities toward methanol (99 and 97.5%) are observed for CuZn/ZrO₂(La) and CuZn/SiO₂ catalysts, respectively, while high values of selectivity toward CH₃OH (90–95%) are achieved in the 175–275°C range of temperatures. The highest methanol productivity is 547 g/(kg_kat h) on catalyst CuZn/ZrO₂(La). The synthesized catalysts are studied via low-temperature nitrogen adsorption, X-ray diffraction, and SEM-EDX.