CO2 hydrogenation to methanol over CuO-ZnO-ZrO2 catalyst prepared by polymeric precursor method

A series of CuO-ZnO-ZrO2 catalysts were synthesized by the polymeric precursor method, and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 physisorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), temperature-programmed reduction with H2 (H2-TPR), reactive N2O adsorption, and adsorption of H2 and CO2 followed by temperature-programmed desorption (H2-TPD, CO2-TPD) techniques. The catalytic performances of all samples for methanol synthesis from hydrogenation of CO2 were evaluated under the experimental condition of 240 °C, 3 MPa, and SV = 1800–6000 mL·gcat−1·h−1. The effects of the calcination temperature on physicochemical and catalytic properties of all catalysts were investigated. The results indicate that the catalyst prepared under 400 °C calcination possesses the smallest Cu crystallites, largest metallic Cu surface area, and thus exhibits the highest methanol yield.