Direct DME synthesis on CZZ/H-FER from variable CO2/CO syngas feeds

Reversible and Irreversible Structural Changes in Cu/ZnO/ZrO2 Catalysts during Methanol Synthesis

The structure and chemical state of heterogeneous catalysts are closely related to their operational stability. Knowing these relationships as precisely as possible is thus essential for further catalyst development. This work focuses on the deactivation of a Cu/ZnO/ZrO2-type catalyst for methanol synthesis. Experiments were performed in a parallel setup, with which time-dependent changes in the catalyst material can be observed. Elucidation of potential deactivation pathways is described for catalyst aging at different times on stream (0, 50, 935 h). Data from X-ray absorption spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, N2 physisorption, and transmission electron microscopy measurements reveal that sintering of Cu0 domains and restructuring within ZnO domains mainly contribute to deactivation. Subsequent reactivation by reduction (in H2/N2) reverts the observed structural changes only to a limited extent. Moreover, this work highlights the participation of ZrO2 as a promoter and reveals redispersion of zirconia after initial reduction.

Ultra-thin ZrO2overcoating on CuO-ZnO-Al2O3catalyst by atomic layer deposition for improved catalytic performance of CO2hydrogenation to dimethyl ether

An ultra-thin overcoating of zirconium oxide (ZrO₂) film on CuO-ZnO-Al₂O₃(CZA) catalysts by atomic layer deposition (ALD) was proved to enhance the catalytic performance of CZA/HZSM-5 (H form of Zeolite Socony Mobil-5) bifunctional catalysts for hydrogenation of CO₂to dimethyl ether (DME). Under optimal reaction conditions (i.e. 240 °C and 2.8 MPa), the yield of product DME increased from 17.22% for the bare CZA/HZSM-5 catalysts, to 18.40% for the CZA catalyst after 5 cycles of ZrO₂ALD with HZSM-5 catalyst. All the catalysts modified by ZrO₂ALD displayed significantly improved catalytic stability of hydrogenation of CO₂to DME reaction, compared to that of CZA/HZSM-5 bifunctional catalysts. The loss of DME yield in 100 h of reaction was greatly mitigated from 6.20% (loss of absolute value) to 3.01% for the CZA catalyst with 20 cycles of ZrO₂ALD overcoating. Characterizations including hydrogen temperature programmed reduction, x-ray powder diffraction, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that there was strong interaction between Cu active centers and ZrO₂.

Ga and Zn increase the oxygen affinity of Cu-based catalysts for the CO x hydrogenation according to ab initio atomistic thermodynamics

The direct hydrogenation of CO or CO₂ to methanol, a highly vivid research area in the context of sustainable development, is typically carried out with Cu-based catalysts. Specific elements (so-called promoters) improve the catalytic performance of these systems under a broad range of reaction conditions (from pure CO to pure CO₂). Some of these promoters, such as Ga and Zn, can alloy with Cu and their role remains a matter of debate. In that context, we used periodic DFT calculations on slab models and ab initio thermodynamics to evaluate both metal alloying and surface formation by considering multiple surface facets, different promoter concentrations and spatial distributions as well as adsorption of several species (O*, H*, CO* and ) for different gas phase compositions. Both Ga and Zn form an fcc-alloy with Cu due to the stronger interaction of the promoters with Cu than with themselves. While the Cu-Ga-alloy is more stable than the Cu-Zn-alloy at low promoter concentrations (<25%), further increasing the promoter concentration reverses this trend, due to the unfavoured Ga-Ga-interactions. Under CO₂ hydrogenation conditions, a substantial amount of O* can adsorb onto the alloy surfaces, resulting in partial dealloying and oxidation of the promoters. Therefore, the CO₂ hydrogenation conditions are actually rather oxidising for both Ga and Zn despite the large amount of H₂ present in the feedstock. Thus, the growth of a GaO _x /ZnO _x overlayer is thermodynamically preferred under reaction conditions, enhancing CO₂ adsorption, and this effect is more pronounced for the Cu-Ga-system than for the Cu-Zn-system. In contrast, under CO hydrogenation conditions, fully reduced and alloyed surfaces partially covered with H* and CO* are expected, with mixed CO/CO₂ hydrogenation conditions resulting in a mixture of reduced and oxidised states. This shows that the active atmosphere tunes the preferred state of the catalyst, influencing the catalytic activity and stability, indicating that the still widespread image of a static catalyst under reaction conditions is insufficient to understand the complex interplay of processes taking place on a catalyst surface under reaction conditions, and that dynamic effects must be considered.

Physico-Chemical Modifications Affecting the Activity and Stability of Cu-Based Hybrid Catalysts during the Direct Hydrogenation of Carbon Dioxide into Dimethyl-Ether

The direct hydrogenation of CO₂ into dimethyl-ether (DME) has been studied in the presence of ferrierite-based CuZnZr hybrid catalysts. The samples were synthetized with three different techniques and two oxides/zeolite mass ratios. All the samples (calcined and spent) were properly characterized with different physico-chemical techniques for determining the textural and morphological nature of the catalytic surface. The experimental campaign was carried out in a fixed bed reactor at 2.5 MPa and stoichiometric H₂/CO₂ molar ratio, by varying both the reaction temperature (200-300 °C) and the spatial velocity (6.7-20.0 NL∙g_cat^-1∙h^-1). Activity tests evidenced a superior activity of catalysts at a higher oxides/zeolite weight ratio, with a maximum DME yield as high as 4.5% (58.9 mg_DME∙g_cat^-1∙h^-1) exhibited by the sample prepared by gel-oxalate coprecipitation. At lower oxide/zeolite mass ratios, the catalysts prepared by impregnation and coprecipitation exhibited comparable DME productivity, whereas the physically mixed sample showed a high activity in CO₂ hydrogenation but a low selectivity toward methanol and DME, ascribed to a minor synergy between the metal-oxide sites and the acid sites of the zeolite. Durability tests highlighted a progressive loss in activity with time on stream, mainly associated to the detrimental modifications under the adopted experimental conditions.

Continuous synthesis of Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 nanoparticles in a co-precipitation reaction using a silicon based microfluidic reactor

A microfluidic reactor enabled continuous co-precipitation synthesis of CuO/ZnO/Al2O3 catalysts for methanol production.

Experimental investigations and model-based optimization of CZZ/H-FER 20 bed compositions for the direct synthesis of DME from CO2-rich syngas

Kinetic investigations and model-based optimization of CuO/ZnO/ZrO2 : H-FER 20 catalytic systems for direct DME synthesis from CO2-rich syngas.

Kinetics of the direct DME synthesis from CO2 rich syngas under variation of the CZA-to-γ-Al2O3 ratio of a mixed catalyst bed

The one-step synthesis of dimethyl ether over mechanical mixtures of Cu/ZnO/Al₂O₃ (CZA) and γ-Al₂O₃ was studied in a wide range of process conditions. Experiments were performed at an industrially relevant pressure of 50 bar varying the carbon oxide ratio in the feed (CO₂ in CO_x from 20 to 80%), temperature (503–533 K), space-time (240–400 kg_cat s m_gas⁻³), and the CZA-to-γ-Al₂O₃ weight ratio (from 1 to 5). Factors favoring the DME production in the investigated range of conditions are an elevated temperature, a low CO₂ content in the feed, and a CZA-to-γ-Al₂O₃ weight ratio of 2. A lumped kinetic model was parameterized to fit the experimental data, resulting in one of the predictive models with the broadest range of validity in the open literature for the CZA/γ-Al₂O₃ system.

Experimental and numerical kinetic investigations for the direct DME synthesis resulted in one of the predictive models with the broadest range of validity in the open literature for the CZA/γ-Al₂O₃ system.