Neutron Insights into Sorption Enhanced Methanol Catalysis

• Published in: Topics in catalysis Vol. 64; no. 9-12; pp. 638 - 643
• Main Authors: Nikolic, Marin, Daemen, Luke, Ramirez-Cuesta, Anibal J., Xicohtencatl, Rafael Balderas, Cheng, Yongqiang, Putnam, Seth T., Stadie, Nicholas P., Liu, Xiaochun, Terreni, Jasmin, Borgschulte, Andreas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 2021; Springer Nature B.V; Springer
• Subjects: Catalysis; Catalysts; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; CO2 hydrogenation; Dimethyl ether; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; inelastic neutron scattering; Inelastic scattering; INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; Methanol; Neutron scattering; Neutrons; Original Paper; Partial pressure; Pharmacy; Physical Chemistry; Reaction mechanisms; Sorbents; Sorption; sorption enhanced catalysis; Sorption enhanced catalysis; Dimethyl ether; CO; hydrogenation; Inelastic neutron scattering; Methanol
• ISSN: 1022-5528; 1572-9028
• DOI: 10.1007/s11244-021-01461-w

Sorption enhanced methanol production makes use of the equilibrium shift of the CO 2 hydrogenation reaction towards the desired products. However, the increased complexity of the catalyst system leads to additional reactions and thus side products such as dimethyl ether, and complicates the analysis of the reaction mechanism. On the other hand, the unusually high concentration of intermediates and products in the sorbent facilitates the use of inelastic neutron scattering (INS) spectroscopy. Despite being a post-mortem method, the INS data revealed the change of the reaction path during sorption catalysis. Concretely, the experiments indicate that the varying water partial pressure due to the adsorption saturation of the zeolite sorbent influences the progress of the reaction steps in which water is involved. Experiments with model catalysts support the INS findings.