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CO 2 Hydrogenation on Cu/Al 2 O 3 : Role of the Metal/Support Interface in Driving Activity and Selectivity of a Bifunctional Catalyst
Author(s) -
Lam Erwin,
CorralPérez Juan José,
Larmier Kim,
Noh Gina,
Wolf Patrick,
ComasVives Aleix,
Urakawa Atsushi,
Copéret Christophe
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201908060
Subject(s) - bifunctional , formate , catalysis , chemistry , methyl formate , oxide , metal , methanol , inorganic chemistry , dimethyl ether , selectivity , bifunctional catalyst , organic chemistry
Selective hydrogenation of CO 2 into methanol is a key sustainable technology, where Cu/Al 2 O 3 prepared by surface organometallic chemistry displays high activity towards CO 2 hydrogenation compared to Cu/SiO 2 , yielding CH 3 OH, dimethyl ether (DME), and CO. CH 3 OH formation rate increases due to the metal–oxide interface and involves formate intermediates according to advanced spectroscopy and DFT calculations. Al 2 O 3 promotes the subsequent conversion of CH 3 OH to DME, showing bifunctional catalysis, but also increases the rate of CO formation. The latter takes place 1) directly by activation of CO 2 at the metal–oxide interface, and 2) indirectly by the conversion of formate surface species and CH 3 OH to methyl formate, which is further decomposed into CH 3 OH and CO. This study shows how Al 2 O 3 , a Lewis acidic and non‐reducible support, can promote CO 2 hydrogenation by enabling multiple competitive reaction pathways on the oxide and metal–oxide interface.