Monitoring the Fate of Zn in the Cu/ZnO/ZrO2 Catalyst during CO2-to-Methanol Synthesis at High Conversions by Operando Spectroscopy.

In the frame of developing a sustainable chemical industry, heterogeneously catalyzed CO2 hydrogenation to methanol has attracted considerable interest. However, the Cu-Zn based catalyst system employed in this process is very dynamic, especially in the presence of the products methanol and water. Deactivation needs to be prevented, but its origin and mechanism are hardly investigated at high conversion where product condensation is possible.