TPR and infrared measurements with cu/zno/al2o3 based catalysts for the synthesis of methanol and higher alcohols from co + h2

The influence of different promoters (CeO₂, MnO_x, K₂CO₃) on various properties of a standard coprecipitated Cu/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalyst has been examined. The catalysts prepared were characterized by Cu surface area, PTIR and TPR measurements. It was found that addition of K₂CO₃ reduced the Cu surface area by about 30%, whereas the Cu surface area did not decrease with addition of the other promoters. The reduction behaviour was affected by the addition of K₂CO₃ as well as by MnO_x, but not by CeO₂. The cause of these effects is possibly an electronic interaction between the promoter and Cu ions.The effect of the different promoters on the activity and selectivity has also been studied. The K₂CO₃ promoted catalyst has an optimum selectivity to higher alcohols at 280 °C; addition of Mn made the catalyst more selective towards methanol. At 300 °C, the Ce promoted catalyst had a high selectivity to methanol and iso-butanol. The promoting effect of the additives may be caused by stabilization of the surface intermediates leading to alcohols. Infrared measurements of adsorbed CO or adsorbed methanol on materials with and without K did not, however, provide any evidence for a difference in reaction mechanism.