CO2 hydrogenation to methanol using Cu-Zn catalyst supported on reduced graphene oxide nanosheets

•Reduced graphene oxide nanosheets were used as a catalytic support for CO2 hydrogenation.•Reduced GO was successfully synthesized by modified Hummers method.•Synergistic promotion of Cu-Zn based on rGO for CO2 hydrogenation was achieved.•Highest space time yield of methanol of 424 mg/gcat h was achieved.

Supported Cu-Zn/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) catalysts were synthesized via an incipient wetness impregnation and evaluated for a CO2 hydrogenation to methanol. The structure, surface reactivity, and adsorption properties were investigated extensively by FE-SEM, TEM, XRD, Raman, FT-IR, N2 sorption, TGA, TPR, and XPS techniques. The effects of Cu-Zn metal loading content and the reaction temperature were investigated toward the methanol production from the CO2 hydrogenation. It was found that supported rGO nanosheets could greatly enhance the catalytic performance and help the dispersion of bimetallic compounds Cu-Zn particles. The 10 wt%CuZn/rGO catalyst yielded the highest space time yield (STY) of 424 mgMeOH gcat−1 h−1 at a reaction temperature and pressure of 250 °C and 15 bar, respectively.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide