A quasi-stable molybdenum sub-oxide with abundant oxygen vacancies that promotes CO hydrogenation to methanol.

Production of methanol from anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO) is a promising chemical process that can alleviate both the environmental burden and the dependence on fossil fuels. In catalytic CO hydrogenation to methanol, reduction of CO to intermediate species is generally considered to be a crucial step. It is of great significance to design and develop advanced heterogeneous catalysts and to engineer the surface structures to promote CO-to-methanol conversion.