Photo-assisted effective and selective reduction of CO₂to methanol on a Cu–ZnO–ZrO₂catalyst

Abstract

The appearance of the "double carbon" era indicates more significant concerns in CO2 utilization. CO2 to methanol is one of the most promising methods for converting CO2, but the extensive...

Aerosol-assisted synthesis of mesoporous Cu/ZnO–ZrO2 catalyst with highly selective photothermal CO2 reduction to methanol

“…6b) are attributed to Cu + and Cu 0 , respectively. 26 CZZ (CTAB) displays a lower Cu + /Cu 0 ratio (1.57) compared to the 1.98 of CZZ (Non) and 3.39 of CZZ (Pr). There are several guesses as to the valence state of the active center Cu.…”

“…7d shows that the PL spectra display the most prominent emission peak around 510 nm for CZZ (CTAB) and around 600 nm for CZZ (Non), attributed to the rapid recombination of electron–hole pairs by an insulator (ZrO 2 ). 26 However, the peak at 400 nm may be ascribed to recombination of Cu and ZnO electron–hole pairs, in which superior carrier mobility could be displayed at the Cu/ZnO interface of CZZ (CTAB) to accelerate the reaction rate of photothermal CO 2 reduction. 40,41 E CB = E VB − E bg …”

“…One reduction peak (CuO) is displayed between 453 and 593 K, but the ZnO and ZrO 2 com-ponents remain stable. 25,26 CZZ (Pr) exhibits the highest CuO reduced temperature at 559.3 K, while the reduction of CZZ (CTAB) and CZZ (Non) takes place at 482.5 K and 474.9 K, respectively. The increased dispersion at the CZZ (CTAB) and CZZ (Non) surfaces could enhance the metal-support interaction between ZnO and CuO, decreasing the reduction activation energy of CuO, 26,27 due to the in situ oxidization and reduction of the active centers required for the reaction process.…”

“…32,33 ② Other studies suggested that Cubased catalysts containing more Cu + have greater ability to synthesize methanol. 26 ③ Cu 0 and Cu + chemical states work together to promote CO 2 hydrogenation to methanol. 34 Nevertheless, a lower Cu + /Cu 0 ratio is favorable for the hydrogen spillover effect and stronger LPSR effect, thus showing superior photothermal performance.…”

“…Pre-experiments (Table S1 †) were performed to prove methanol production by conversion from CO 2 . 26 The effect of the preparation method (Fig. 9a) for Cu/ZnO-ZrO 2 was investigated first; desirable performance (77.65% of methanol selectivity and 3677.89 µmol g cat −1 h −1 methanol yield) is displayed by CZZ (CTAB) under a thermal reaction.…”