A novel in situ grown Cu-ZnO-ZrO2/HZSM-5 hybrid catalyst for CO2 hydrogenation to liquid fuels of methanol and DME

Abstract

Abstract Production of liquid fuels via CO2 hydrogenation has attracted special interests recently for its inspiring economic and environmental benefits, but it is still restricted by the low CO2 conversion and product selectivity. Herein, a novel Cu-ZnO-ZrO2/HZSM-5 (CZZ/HZSM-5) catalyst was developed by in situ growing HZSM-5 on Cu-ZnO-ZrO2 (CZZ) nanoparticles directly via the mediate of aluminum. The results show that reverse co-precipitation method and oxalic acid precipitant were favorable for CZZ preparation. The as-obtained CZZ/HZSM-5 consisted of well constructed and tightly bound CZZ and HZSM-5, presenting considerable metal dispersion and 2.9 times higher specific surface area than the reference CZZ. Benefitted from characteristics above, the CZZ/HZSM-5 exhibited remarkable catalytic performance. At the typical reaction condition of 250 °C and 5.0\xa0MPa, it achieved a 34.1% CO2 conversion, 67.7% DME selectivity, 8.0% methanol selectivity and 25.8% MeOH+DME yield. The shortened distance between CZZ and HZSM-5 due to in situ growth contributed to efficient methanol dehydration and thus dramatic product yield. Benefited from the specific structure, selectivity of target product is well maintained at a high level within a wide temperature range, contributing to efficient CO2 conversion and remarkable DME yield. It is therefore promising for applications in industrial CO2 catalytic utilization.