Carbon nanofibers based copper/zirconia catalysts for carbon dioxide hydrogenation to methanol: Effect of copper concentration

• Main Authors: Din, I.U., Shaharun, M.S., Naeem, A., Tasleem, S., Rafie Johan, M.
• Format: Article
• Published: Elsevier B.V. 2018
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85033554089&doi=10.1016%2fj.cej.2017.10.087&partnerID=40&md5=3eb05777baf82dce7b51bc637fe24b6c; http://eprints.utp.edu.my/20678/

A series of novel bimetallic copper/zirconia carbon nanofibers supported catalysts with different Cu contents (5�25 wt) were synthesized via deposition precipitation method. The physicochemical characterization of the calcined catalysts was carried out by X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy, N2 adsorption�desorption, N2O chemisorption, temperature programmed reduction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy and temperature programmed CO2 desorption. Structure-reactivity correlation for catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol was discussed in details. Reaction studies revealed 15 wt as optimum Cu concentration for CO2 conversion to methanol with CO2/H2 feed volume ratio of 1:3. Cu surface area was found to play a vital role in methanol synthesis rate. CO2 conversion was observed to be directly proportional to the number of total basic sites. A comparative study of this novel catalyst with the recently reported data revealed the better CO2 conversion at relatively low reaction temperature. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.