Boosting the Methanol Yield of CO2 Hydrogenation by Strengthening Carbon-Mediated Hydrogen Spillover of a Copper–Zinc-Alumina Catalyst

Abstract

Abstract A copper–zinc–alumina catalyst doped with activated carbon (CZA-0.1AC) is facilely fabricated via the physical mixing method. Mechanistic studies indicate that the intimate carbon–copper contact promotes hydrogen spillover, which suppresses Cu particle aggregation, stabilizes the active Cu valence state, and accelerates intermediate hydrogenation. Benefiting from these multiple positive factors, a record-breaking methanol space-time yield (STY) of 1169 g·kgCZA–1·h–1 is achieved at a gas hourly space velocity of 36,000 mL·gcat–1·h–1. This work provides a facile and reliable strategy to boost the methanol synthesis performance of the copper–zinc–alumina catalyst in CO2 hydrogenation, which is promising to spread into industrial application due to its low cost and ease of preparation.