Evidence for the migration of ZnOx in a Cu/ZnO methanol synthesis catalyst

The behavior and role of ZnO in Cu/ZnO catalysts for the hydrogenations of CO and CO₂ were studied using XRD, TEM coupled with EDX, TPD and FT-IR. As the reduction temperature increased, the specific activity for the hydrogenation of CO₂ increased, whereas the activity for the hydrogenation of CO decreased. The EDX and XRD results definitely showed that ZnO _x (x = 0–1) moieties migrate onto the Cu surface and dissolve into the Cu particle forming a Cu-Zn alloy when the Cu/ZnO catalysts were reduced at high temperatures above 600 K. The content of Zn dissolved in the Cu particles increased with reduction temperature and reached 18% at a reduction temperature of 723 K. The CO-TPD and FT-IR results suggested the presence of Cu⁺ sites formed in the vicinity of ZnO _x on the Cu surface, where the Cu⁺ species were regarded as an active catalytic component for methanol synthesis.     

The difference in the active sites for CO2 and CO hydrogenations on Cu/ZnO-based methanol synthesis catalysts

The effect of Zn in copper catalysts on the activities for both CO₂ and CO hydrogenations has been examined using a physical mixture of Cu/SiO₂+ZnO/SiO₂ and a Zn-containing Cu/SiO₂ catalyst or (Zn)Cu/SiO₂. Reduction of the physical mixture with H₂ at 573–723 K results in an increase in the yield of methanol produced by the CO₂ hydrogenation, while no such a promotion was observed for the CO hydrogenation, indicating that the active site is different for the CO₂ and CO hydrogenations. However, the methanol yield by CO hydrogenation is significantly increased by the oxidation treatment of the (Zn)Cu/SiO₂ catalyst. Thus it is concluded that the Cu–Zn site is active for the CO₂ hydrogenation as previously reported, while the Cu–O–Zn site is active for the CO hydrogenation.     

Support and additive effects in the synthesis of methanol over copper catalysts

Catalysts containing copper and ZnO in various combinations have been prepared, the copper surface areas have been measured by nitrous oxide frontal chromatography, and the activities in the reaction of CO/CO₂/H₂ and CO/H₂ mixtures to methanol have been determined at 250°C and 10 bar pressure. The results show that there is a strong synergy between copper and ZnO with the area specific rate of Cu/ZnO catalysts being about one order of magnitude larger than that of a Cu/SiO₂ catalyst. The synergy between copper and ZnO is observed both in the presence and absence of carbon dioxide. It is also observed that physical mixtures of Cu/SiO₂ and ZnO/SiO₂ catalysts are significantly more active than either of the components alone. The results are discussed in terms of possible interactions between copper and ZnO in the most active catalysts.     

Synergy at a distance in the synthesis of methanol over copper catalysts

Physical mixtures of Cu/SiO₂ and ZnO/SiO₂ catalysts have been studied for the synthesis of methanol from CO/CO₂/H₂ at 250 °C and 10 bar pressure. It is found that the activities are very much higher for the physical mixtures than would be expected from the activities of either of these two catalysts in isolation. The results suggest that the high activity of conventional Cu/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalysts may arise from a synergy between the Cu and ZnO phases.     

Influence of titania on zirconia promoted Cu/SiO2 catalysts for methanol synthesis from CO/H2 and CO2/H2

The effects of adding mixtures of titania and zirconia on the methanol synthesis activity and selectivity of Cu/SiO₂ were investigated. The synthesis of methanol from both CO/H₂ and CO₂/H₂ mixtures was examined at 0.65 MPa and temperatures between 448 and 573 K. For CO hydrogenation, the addition of ZrO₂ alone increased the methanol synthesis activity of Cu/SiO₂ by up to three-fold. Substitution of a portion of the ZrO₂ by TiO₂ decreased the methanol synthesis activity of the catalyst relative to that observed when only ZrO₂ is added. ZrO₂ addition also enhanced the methane synthesis activity by as much as seven fold. In the case of CO₂ hydrogenation, the maximum methanol synthesis activity is achieved when a 50/50 wt% mixture of ZrO₂ and TiO₂ is added to Cu/SiO₂. Neither the presence of the oxide additive nor its composition had any effect on the activity of the reverse water–gas-shift reaction, which suggests that this reaction proceeds only on Cu. The observed effects of ZrO₂ and TiO₂ on the catalytic activity of methanol synthesis from CO and CO₂, and methane synthesis from CO, are interpreted in terms of the strength and concentration of acidic and basic groups on the surface of the dispersed oxide.     

The effect of the reduction temperature on the structure of Cu/ZnO/SiO2 catalysts for methanol synthesis

The structure of Cu/SiO₂ and Cu/ZnO/SiO₂ catalysts was studied after reduction at 450–1300 K. The influence of the ZnO promoter on the exposed Cu surface area and metal cluster size was determined by N₂O chemisorption and X-ray diffraction. After reduction at 450 K, the metal surface area amounted to 9 m²/g_cat for both catalysts. Oxygen uptake during N₂O chemisorption increased significantly up to reduction temperatures of 800–900 K. This increase was most prominent for the ZnO-promoted catalyst, although no oxygen uptake was observed for a similarly treated ZnO/SiO₂ sample. The behaviour of the promoted catalyst can be explained by formation of Zn⁰, surface alloying, and segregation of ZnO_x species on top of Cu clusters. The high thermostability of the catalysts was confirmed by in situ XRD measurements. The Cu crystallite size in both catalysts was about 4 nm, and did not increase when the reduction temperature was raised to 1100 K for 1 h.     

Creation of the active site for methanol synthesis on a Cu/SiO2 catalyst

The effect of ZnO/SiO₂ in a physical mixture of Cu/SiO₂ and ZnO/SiO₂ on methanol synthesis from CO₂ and H₂ was studied to clarify the role of ZnO in Cu/ZnO-based catalysts. An active Cu/SiO₂ was prepared by the following procedure: the Cu/SiO₂ and ZnO/SiO₂ catalysts with a different SiO₂ particle size were mixed and reduced with H₂ at 523-723 K, and the Cu/SiO₂ was then separated from the mixture using a sieve. The methanol synthesis activity of the Cu/SiO₂ catalyst increased with the reduction temperature and was in fairly good agreement with that previously obtained for the physical mixture of Cu/SiO₂ and ZnO/SiO₂. These results indicated that the active site for methanol synthesis was created on the Cu/SiO₂ upon reduction of the physical mixture with H₂. It was also found that ZnO itself had no promotional effect on the methanol synthesis activity except for the role of ZnO to create the active site. The active site created on the Cu/SiO₂ catalyst was found not to promote the formation of formate from CO₂ and H₂ on the Cu surface based on in situ FT-IR measurements. A special formate species unstable at 523 K with an OCO asymmetric peak at ~1585 cm^-1 was considered to be adsorbed on the active site. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Methanol synthesis by the hydrogenation of CO2 over Zn-deposited Cu(111) and Cu(110) surfaces

The hydrogenation of CO₂ over Zn-deposited Cu(111) and Cu(110) surfaces was performed at 523 K and 18 atm using a high pressure flow reactor combined with XPS apparatus. It was shown that the ZnO _x species formed on Cu(111) during reaction directly promoted the methanol synthesis. However, no such promotional effect of the Zn was observed for methanol formation on Cu(110). Thus, Zn on Cu(111) acts as a promoter, while Zn on Cu(110) acts as a poison. The activation energy and the turnover frequency are in fairly good agreement with those obtained for Cu/ZnO powder catalysts.     

Effects of zirconia promotion on the activity of Cu/SiO2 for methanol synthesis from CO/H2 and CO2/H2

The effect of zirconia promotion on Cu/SiO₂ for the hydrogenation of CO and CO₂ at 0.65 MPa has been investigated at temperatures between 473 and 573 K. With increasing zirconia loading, the rate of methanol synthesis is greatly enhanced for both CO and CO₂ hydrogenation, but more significantly for CO hydrogenation. For example, at 533 K the methanol synthesis activity of 30.5 wt% zirconia-promoted Cu/SiO₂ is 84 and 25 times that of unpromoted Cu/SiO₂ for CO and CO₂ hydrogenation, respectively. For all catalysts, the rate of methanol synthesis from CO₂/H₂ is higher than that from CO/H₂. The apparent activation energy for methanol synthesis from CO decreases from 22.5 to 17.5 kcal/mol with zirconia addition, suggesting that zirconia alters the reaction pathway. For CO₂ hydrogenation, the apparent activation energies (~12 kcal/mol) for methanol synthesis and the reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) reaction are not significantly affected by zirconia addition. While zirconia addition greatly increases the methanol synthesis rate for CO₂ hydrogenation, the effect on the RWGS reaction activity is comparatively small. The observed effects of zirconia are interpreted in terms of a mechanism which zirconia serves to adsorb either CO or CO₂, whereas Cu serves to adsorb H₂. It is proposed that methanol is formed by the hydrogenation of the species adsorbed on zirconia.     

Methanol synthesis over a Zn-deposited copper model catalyst

Methanol synthesis by the hydrogenation of CO₂ over Zn-deposited polycrystalline Cu was studied using surface science techniques. The Zn sub-monolayer was oxidized by the reaction mixture during the reaction at 523 K, leading to the formation of ZnO species. The kinetic results definitely showed that the ZnO species on the Cu surface promoted the catalytic activity of methanol formation, where the activity of Cu increased by a factor of 6 at the Zn coverage of 0.17. A volcano-shaped curve was obtained for the correlation between the Zn coverage and the catalytic activity, which was very similar to the correlation curve between the oxygen coverage and the specific activity for methanol formation previously obtained for the Cu powder catalysts. The role of ZnO in Cu/ZnO based catalysts was ascribed to the stabilization of Cu⁺ species by the ZnO moieties on the Cu surface.     

Methanol synthesis over Cu/SiO2 catalysts

The rates of CO and CO/CO₂ hydrogenation at 4.2 MPa and 523 K are reported for a series of Cu/SiO₂ catalysts containing 2 to 88 wt.% Cu. These catalysts were prepared on a variety of silica sources using several different Cu deposition techniques. In CO/CO₂ hydrogenation, the rate of methanol formation is proportional to the exposed Cu surface area of the reduced catalyst precursor, as determined by N₂O frontal chromatography. The observed rate, 4.2×10^–3 mole CH₃OH/Cu site-sec, is within a factor of three of the rates reported by others over Cu/ZnO and Cu/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalysts under comparable conditions. These results suggest that the ZnO component is only a moderate promoter in methanol synthesis. Hydrogenation of CO over these catalysts also gives methanol with high selectivity, but the synthesis rate is not proportional to the Cu surface area. This implies that another type of site, either alone or in cooperation with Cu, is involved in the synthesis of methanol from CO.     

On the Issue of the Active Site and the Role of ZnO in Cu/ZnO Methanol Synthesis Catalysts

The problem concerning the active site and the role of ZnO in Cu/ZnO-based methanol synthesis catalysts can be consistently explained based on the literature results by distinguishing CO₂ and CO hydrogenations. Although only metallic copper has some activities for methanol synthesis by the hydrogenation of CO₂, Cu-Zn alloying in Cu particles is responsible for the major promotional role of ZnO in industrial Cu/ZnO-based catalysts. The morphology effect reported in the literature will probably appear for the system of highly dispersed Cu particles supported on ZnO. As for the hydrogenation of CO, Cu⁺ species or Cu-O-Zn sites are the active sites for methanol synthesis. The spillover effect of the Cu-ZnO system is not significant compared to the effect of ZnO on the creation of the Cu-O-Zn site.     

CO2 Hydrogenation to Methanol Over Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 Catalysts Prepared by a Novel Gel-Network-Coprecipitation Method

A novel gel-network-coprecipitation process has been developed to prepare ultrafine Cu/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalysts for methanol synthesis from CO₂ hydrogenation. It is demonstrated that the gel-network-coprecipitation method can allow the preparation of the ultrafine Cu/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalysts by homogeneous coprecipitation of the metal nitrate salts in the gel network formed by gelatin solution, which makes the metallic copper in the reduced catalyst exist in much smaller crystallite size and exhibit a much higher metallic copper-specific surface area. The effect of the gel concentration of gelatin on the structure, morphology and catalytic properties of the Cu/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalysts for methanol synthesis from hydrogenation of carbon dioxide was investigated. The Cu/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalysts prepared by the gel-network-coprecipitation method exhibit a high catalytic activity and selectivity in CO₂ hydrogenation to methanol.     

An in situ high pressure FT-IR study of CO2/H2 interactions with model ZnO/SiO2, Cu/SiO2 and Cu/ZnO/SiO2 methanol synthesis catalysts

In situ FT-IR spectroscopy allows the methanol synthesis reaction to be investigated under actual industrial conditions of 503 K and 10 MPa. On Cu/SiO₂ catalyst formate species were initially formed which were subsequently hydrogenated to methanol. During the reaction a steady state concentration of formate species persisted on the copper. Additionally, a small quantity of gaseous methane was produced. In contrast, the reaction of CO₂ and H₂ on ZnO/SiO₂ catalyst only resulted in the formation of zinc formate species: no methanol was detected. The interaction of CO₂ and H₂ with Cu/ZnO/SiO₂ catalyst gave formate species on both copper and zinc oxide. Methanol was again formed by the hydrogenation of copper formate species. Steady-state concentrations of copper formate existed under actual industrial reaction conditions, and copper formate is the pivotal intermediate for methanol synthesis. Collation of these results with previous data on copper-based methanol synthesis catalysts allowed the formulation of a reaction mechanism.     

Co‐Metal Catalysts on SiO2‐TiO2 for Methanol Production from CO2 – Effect of Preparation Methods

The effect of quantity, composition, and different impregnation sequences on the catalytic properties of Cu‐Zn‐Al/SiO₂‐TiO₂ in the CO₂ hydrogenation for methanol production was investigated. The Cu‐Zn‐Al catalysts supported on SiO₂ and TiO₂ were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation. Then, their performances in CO₂ hydrogenation were tested under defined conditions. The composition variation of Cu and Zn catalysts resulted in a high methanol production for Cu catalysts with a higher content of Cu, which was the active site for CO₂ activation. Regarding the metal quantity of catalysts, a relatively low loading of co‐metal (Cu‐Zn‐Al) led to the maximum methanol yield when compared with higher loadings as a result of the largest surface area.     

Binary spinel cobaltites of nickel,copper and zinc as precursors of catalysts for carbon oxides methanation

The hydrogenation of carbon oxides (CO and CO₂) on bimetallic Cu/Co and Ni/Co as well as Co/ZnO catalysts obtained by reduction of the corresponding spinel cobaltites Me_xCo_3-xO₄ is investigated. The predominant hydrogenation process is methanation and in the case of nickel cobaltite high and stable activity and selectivity are reached, no carbon deposition and carbide formation being observed.     

Adsorption and Deactivation Characteristics of Cu/ZnO-Based Catalysts for Methanol Synthesis from Carbon Dioxide

The adsorption and deactivation characteristics of coprecipitated Cu/ZnO-based catalysts were examined and correlated to their performance in methanol synthesis from CO₂ hydrogenation. The addition of Ga₂O₃ and Y₂O₃ promoters is shown to increase the Cu surface area and CO₂/H₂ adsorption capacities of the catalysts and enhance methanol synthesis activity. Infrared studies showed that CO₂ adsorbs spontaneously on these catalysts at room temperature as both mono- and bi-dentate carbonate species. These weakly bound species desorb completely from the catalyst surface by 200 °C while other carbonate species persist up to 500 °C. Characterization using N₂O decomposition, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis clearly indicated that Cu sintering is the main cause of catalyst deactivation. Ga and Y promotion improves the catalyst stability by suppressing the agglomeration of Cu and ZnO particles under pretreatment and reaction conditions.     

The effect of ZnO in methanol synthesis catalysts on Cu dispersion and the specific activity

The effect of ZnO in Cu/ZnO catalysts prepared by the coprecipitation method has been studied using measurements of the surface area of Cu, the specific activity for the methanol synthesis by hydrogenation of CO₂, and XRD. Although the Cu surface area increases with increasing ZnO content (0–50 wt%) as is generally known, the specific activity of the Cu/ZnO catalysts with various weight ratios of Cu:ZnO is greater than that of a ZnO-free Cu catalyst. These facts clearly indicate that the role of ZnO in Cu/ZnO catalysts can be ascribed to both increases in the Cu dispersion and the specific activity. The XRD results indicate the formation of a Cu–Zn alloy in the Cu particles of the Cu/ZnO catalysts, leading to the increase in specific activity. It is thus considered that the Cu–Zn surface alloy or a Cu–Zn site is the active site for methanol synthesis in addition to metallic copper atoms that catalyze several hydrogenation steps during the methanol synthesis. Furthermore, the advantage of the coprecipitation method through a precursor of aurichalcite is ascribed to both improvements in the Cu surface area and the specific activity. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Hydrogenation of methyl acetate to ethanol by Cu/ZnO catalyst encapsulated in SBA‐15

The hydrogenation of methyl acetate (MA) is one of the important key processes for synthesis of ethanol from syngas. This work reports a highly efficient Cu‐ZnO/SBA‐15 catalyst prepared by facile solid‐state grinding method. Both copper and zinc species were encapsulated in SBA‐15 in high dispersion with the presence of organic template. The mixed homogeneity and interaction between copper and zinc species was enhanced as well with the help of organic template, resulting in the formation of Cu⁺ species in the reduced catalysts. Moreover, TOF_Cu(0) linearly increased with the Cu⁺/Cu⁰ ratio, indicating that a high proportion of Cu⁺/Cu⁰ induced by ZnO should be a key prerequisite to achieve favorable hydrogenation performance. It seems that the Cu⁺ species originated from Cu‐ZnO_x species are more active than that from Cu‐O‐Si species in the activation of MA. These results may provide an inspiration in rational design of Cu‐ZnO‐based catalysts for esters hydrogenation. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 2839–2849, 2017     

Effect of Pd on Cu-Zn Catalysts for the Hydrogenation of CO2 to Methanol: Stabilization of Cu Metal Against CO2 Oxidation

A palladium–copper–zinc catalyst (PdO:CuO:ZnO=2:28:70), prepared by sequential precipitation of the respective cations, was tested in the hydrogenation of CO₂ at high pressure (conditions: 60 bar, CO₂:H₂=1:3 (molar), W/F=0.0675 kg h/m³, 453-513 K). The methanol yield was improved on using this Pd-containing catalyst at all temperatures with respect to the reference copper–zinc catalyst (CuO:ZnO=30:70). This improvement was not due to an additional effect in which palladium was acting as an independent catalytic site but was caused by a synergetic effect of Pd on the active Cu sites. This effect was explained in terms of hydrogen spillover and an increased stability against CO₂ oxidation of the surface copper. Therefore, the present contribution not only supports previous literature findings concerning the hydrogen spillover mechanism but also resulted in a complementary view regarding the role of palladium in Pd-modified CuO-ZnO-based catalysts.