Preparation of mesoporous Cu/ZnO catalyst and its application in low-temperature methanol synthesis

A kind of Cu/ZnO catalyst with mesoporosity was prepared by sol-gel method and characterized by XRD, BET and SEM-EDS techniques. The catalyst activity for low-temperature methanol synthesis using alcohol promoter was investigated. The XRD patterns revealed that the sample was a mixture of ZnO, CuO and Cu2O species. The appearance of low-valence Cu2O Was attributed to the fact that the precursor contained organic groups and its decomposition during the calcination process partly reduced the sample. The Cu/ZnO particles had large surface area, homogenous elements distribution and exhibited various mesoporous sizes ill the range of 2-10 nm. The pore size distribution results suggested that the surface zinc components of the Cu/ZnO particles might enter and be deposited in the pore of Cu-O. With 2-butanol as solvent, the Cu/ZnO catalyst showed excellent catalytic activity and very high selectivity for the low-temperature methanol synthesis from syngas containing CO2. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.