Catalytic Hydrogenation of CO2 to Methanol: Study of Synergistic Effect on Adsorption Properties of CO2 and H2 in CuO/ZnO/ZrO2 System

A series of CuO/ZnO/ZrO2 (CZZ) catalysts with different CuO/ZnO weight ratios have been synthesized by citrate method and tested in the catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol. Experimental results showed that the catalyst with the lowest CuO/ZnO weight ratio of 2/7 exhibited the best catalytic performance with a CO2 conversion of 32.9%, 45.8% methanol selectivity, and a process delivery of 193.9 g(MeOH)center dot kg(cat)(-1).h(-1). A synergetic effect is found by systematic temperature-programmed-desorption (TPD) studies. Comparing with single and di-component systems, the interaction via different components in a CZZ system provides additional active sites to adsorb more H-2 and CO2 in the low temperature range, resulting in higher weight time yield (WTY) of methanol.