Mechanism of Methanol Synthesis on Cu through CO2 and CO Hydrogenation

We present a comprehensive mean-field microkinetic model for the methanol synthesis and water-gas-shift (WGS) reactions that includes novel reaction intermediates, such as formic acid (HCOOH) and hydroxymethoxy (CH3O2) and allows for the formation of formic-acid (HCOOH), formaldehyde (CH2O), and methyl formate (HCOOCH3) as byproducts. All input model parameters were initially derived from periodic, self-consistent, GGA-PW91 density functional theory calculations on the Cu(111) surface and subsequently fitted to published experimental methanol synthesis rate data, which were collected under realistic conditions on a commercial Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst. We find that the WGS reaction follows the carboxyl (COOH)-mediated path and that both CO and CO2 hydrogenation pathways are active for methanol synthesis. Under typical industrial methanol synthesis conditions, CO2 hydrogenation is responsible for similar to 2/3 of the methanol produced. The intermediates of the CO2 pathway for methanol synthesis include HCOO*, HCOOH*, CH3O2*, CH2O*, and CH3O*. The formation of formate (HCOO*) from CO2* and H* on Cu(111) does not involve an intermediate carbonate (CO3*) species, and hydrogenation of HCOO* leads to HCOOH* instead of dioxymethylene (H2CO2*). The effect of CO is not only promotional; CO* is also hydrogenated in significant amounts to HCO*, CH(2)Q*, CH3O*, and CH3OH*. We considered two possibilities for CO promotion: (a) removal of OH* via COOH* to form CO2 and hydrogen (WGS), and (b) CO-assisted hydrogenation of various surface intermediates, with HCO* being the H-donor. Only the former mechanism contributes to methanol formation; but its effect is small compared with that of direct CO hydrogenation to methanol. Overall, methanol synthesis rates are limited by methoxy (CH3O*) formation at low CO2/(CO + CO2) ratios and by CH3O* hydrogenation in CO2-rich feeds. CH3O* hydrogenation is the common slow step for both the CO and the CO2 methanol synthesis routes; the relative contribution of each route is determined by their respective slow steps HCO* + H* -> CH2O* + * and HCOOH* + H* -> CH3O2* + * as well as by feed composition and reaction conditions. An analysis of the fitted parameters for a commercial Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst suggests that a more open Cu surface, for example, Cu(110), Cu(100), and Cu(211) partially covered by oxygen, may provide a better model for the active site of methanol synthesis, but our studies cannot exclude a synergistic effect with the ZnO support.