New black indium oxide-tandem photothermal CO<sub>2</sub>-H<sub>2</sub> methanol selective catalyst.

Zhang, Zeshu; Mao, Chengliang; Meira, Débora Motta; Duchesne, Paul N; Tountas, Athanasios A; Li, Zhao; Qiu, Chenyue; Tang, Sanli et al. · Nat Commun · 2022

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

It has long been known that the thermal catalyst Cu/ZnO/Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>(CZA) can enable remarkable catalytic performance towards CO<sub>2</sub> 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.