Highly active Ce, Y, La-modified Cu/SiO catalysts for hydrogenation of methyl acetate to ethanol.

Rare earth element (Ce, Y, and La) modified Cu/SiO catalysts hydrolysis precipitation and impregnation method were fabricated for the vapor-phase hydrogenation of methyl acetate to ethanol. LaO showed the most pronounced promotion in the catalytic tests. After detailed characterizations, N adsorption-desorption, XRD, NO chemisorption, FTIR, H-TPR, H-TPD, TEM, XPS, and TG/DTA, we found that the addition of promoter LaO can decrease the particle size while in turn, it can increase the dispersion of copper species.