Efficient hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol over Pd/In2O3/SBA-15 catalysts

The catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol has been regarded as the one of the most economical and effective ways to reduce CO2 emissions. It can also provide a feasible idea for solving the energy crisis. In this paper, a series of Pd/In2O3 /SBA-15 catalysts were prepared by the citric acid method. The DFT simulation and catalyst characterization including the N-2 adsorption, XRD, H-2-TPR, TEM, XPS and CO2-TPD were applied. The results showed that the as-prepared Pd/In2O3 /SBA-15 catalysts exhibited superior catalytic activity with 83.9% methanol selectivity and 12.6% CO2 conversion, corresponding to a STY of 1.1 x 10(-2) mol.h(-1).g(cat)(-1) under reaction conditions of 260 degrees C, 5 Mpa and 15,000 cm(3) h(-1).g(cat)(-1). It is suggested that the synergetic effect of H-2 dissociation on Pd species and CO2 activation on In2O3 promoted the high efficiency conversion of CO2 to methanol.