The effect of palladium and CeO2 on the catalytic and physicochemical properties of copper catalysts in methanol synthesis

This paper deals with the study of the bimetallic Pd-Cu and monometallic Cu, Pd catalyst used in the methanol synthesis reaction. To reveal the influence of the catalyst properties on methanol production, various characterization techniques were used, such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, TPR-H-2 and TPD-NH3. The catalytic activity was studied in CO hydrogenation under elevated pressure (4.8 MPa) in a fixed bed high-pressure reactor. The activity results confirmed the promotion effect of palladium and CeO2 on the catalytic activity of copper catalysts. The highest activity and selectivity of Pd-Cu/ZnAl2O4-5 % CeO2 is explained by the Pd-Cu alloy formation during activation process. The presence of adsorption species attributed to b-HCO3-Ce, b-HCOO-Ce and b-HCOO-Ce species on the surface of CeO2 promoted catalysts was confirmed by FTIR method.