One-Pot Synthesis of Cu-SO42--ZrO2 Catalysts for Use as Acid Catalyst in Dimethyl Ether Production from CO2 Hydrogenation

The present research investigates the possibility of enhancing the stability of SO42--ZrO2 catalyst by adding Cu (2-12 wt%) prepared via a simple one-pot synthesis method. The substantial changes in the structures of Cu are observed which can be classified into two different ranges of Cu loading: 2-8 wt% and 10-12 wt%. Cu2O is predominant phase at Cu loading of 2-8 wt%, which strongly interacts with ZrO2, resulting in a decrease of number of acid sites and thus lowering DME yield compared to bare SO42--ZrO2. At Cu loading of 10-12 wt%, the predominant phase of Cu becomes CuSO4 and the SO42- from CuSO4 may be formed as bridging S-O-S bonds with another S-O bonded to Zr atom(,) resulting in the catalytic stability improvement. The optimum Cu loading is 10 wt% which attains the maximum DME yield of 3.2% at 260 degrees C and 20 bar.

Automated summary

The present study investigates the possibility of enhancing the stability of SO42--ZrO2 catalyst by adding Cu (2-12 wt%) via a simple one-pot synthesis method. The structures of Cu undergo substantial changes, and can be classified into two different ranges of Cu loading: 2-8 wt% and 10-12 wt%. At Cu loading of 2-8 wt%, Cu2O is the predominant phase and strongly interacts with ZrO2, resulting in a decrease in acid sites and a lower DME yield compared to bare SO42--ZrO2. However, at Cu loading of 10-12 wt%, CuSO4 becomes the predominant phase and enhances the catalytic stability through bridging S-O-S bonds with Zr atom-bound S-O. The optimal Cu loading is 10 wt%, which achieves a maximum DME yield of 3.2% at 260 degrees C and 20 bar.