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.