New black indium oxide-tandem photothermal CO2-H2 methanol selective catalyst

It has long been known that the thermal catalyst Cu/ZnO/Al2O3(CZA) can enable remarkable catalytic performance towards CO2 hydrogenation for the reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) and methanol synthesis reactions. However, owing to the direct competition between these reactions, high pressure and high hydrogen concentration (>= 75%) are required to shift the thermodynamic equilibrium towards methanol synthesis. Herein, a new black indium oxide with photothermal catalytic activity is successfully prepared, and it facilitates a tandem synthesis of methanol at a low hydrogen concentration (50%) and ambient pressure by directly using by-product CO as feedstock. The methanol selectivities achieve 33.24% and 49.23% at low and high hydrogen concentrations, respectively.

Automated summary

It has been found that the thermal catalyst Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 can enhance the catalytic performance of CO2 hydrogenation for the reverse water-gas shift and methanol synthesis reactions. However, due to direct competition between these reactions, high pressure and high hydrogen concentration are required to shift the thermodynamic equilibrium towards methanol synthesis. In this study, a new black indium oxide with photothermal catalytic activity was prepared, and it enabled the tandem synthesis of methanol at a low hydrogen concentration and ambient pressure by utilizing by-product CO as feedstock. The methanol selectivities achieved 33.24% and 49.23% at low and high hydrogen concentrations, respectively.