Constructing carbon supported copper-based catalysts for efficient CO hydrogenation to methanol.

An activated carbon-supported Cu/ZnO catalyst (CCZ-AE-ox) was successfully obtained by the ammonia evaporation method for the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to methanol, and the surface properties of the catalyst post-calcination and reduction were investigated. Activated carbon facilitated the increased dispersion of the loaded metals, which promote the CO space-time yield (STY) of methanol and turnover frequency (TOF) on the active sites. Furthermore, the factors affecting the catalyst in the hydrogenation of CO to methanol were in-depth investigated. The larger surface area and higher CO adsorption capacity are found to make possible the main attributions of the superior activity of the CCZ-AE-ox catalyst.