Bifunctionality of Cu/ZnO catalysts for alcohol-assisted low-temperature methanol synthesis from syngas:Effect of copper content

• Published in: Journal of energy chemistry Vol. 26; no. 3; pp. 373 - 379
• Main Authors: Kim, Ilho, Lee, Gihoon, Jeong, Heondo, Park, Jong Ho, Jung, Ji Chul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.05.2017
• Subjects: Alcohol-assisted; Bifunctionality; Copper content; Cu/ZnO catalysts; Low-temperature methanol synthesis; Copper content; Low-temperature methanol synthesis; Bifunctionality; Alcohol-assisted; Cu/ZnO catalysts
• ISSN: 2095-4956
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jechem.2017.02.003

Alcohol-assisted low-temperature methanol synthesis was conducted over Cu/ZnOX catalysts while varying the copper content（X）. Unlike conventional methanol synthesis, ethanol acted as both solvent and reaction intermediate in this reaction, creating a different reaction pathway. The formation of crystalline phases and characteristic morphology of the co-precipitated precursors during the co-precipitation step were important factors in obtaining an efficient Cu/ZnO catalyst with a high dispersion of metallic copper,which is one of the main active sites for methanol synthesis. The acidic properties of the Cu/ZnO catalyst were also revealed as important factors, since alcohol esterification is considered the rate-limiting step in alcohol-assisted low-temperature methanol synthesis. As a consequence, bifunctionality of the Cu/ZnO catalyst such as metallic copper and acidic properties was required for this reaction. In this respect, the copper content（X） strongly affected the catalytic activity of the Cu/ZnOX catalysts, and accordingly, the Cu/ZnO0.5 catalyst with a high copper dispersion and sufficient acid sites exhibited the best catalytic performance in this reaction.