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 in 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.