The mystery solved about the active phase in catalytic carbon dioxide reduction to methanol

Date:
May 5, 2022
Source:
Stockholm University
Summary:
Researchers have been able to study the surface of a copper-zinc
catalyst when carbon dioxide is reduced to methanol. A better
knowledge of the catalytic process and the possibility of finding
even more efficient materials opens the door for a green transition
in the chemical industry.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Researchers at Stockholm University have for the first time been able
to study the surface of a copper-zinc catalyst when carbon dioxide is
reduced to methanol, the results are published in the scientific journal Science. A better knowledge of the catalytic process and the possibility
of finding even more efficient materials opens the door for a green
transition in the chemical industry.


========================================================================== Methanol is currently one of the most important petrochemical basic
chemicals, with an annual production of 110 million tones, and can be
converted into tens of thousands of different products and used for the manufacture of, for example, plastics, detergents, pharmaceuticals and
fuels. Methanol also has the potential to become a future energy carrier
where, for example, aviation fuel can be produced using captured carbon
dioxide and hydrogen from electrolysis of water instead of using natural
gas. A future green transformation of the chemical industry, similar to
the one with green steel, where wind or solar energy drives electrolytic
cells is therefore a possibility.

"The challenge has been to experimentally investigate the catalyst
surface with surface-sensitive methods under real reaction conditions
at relatively high pressures and temperatures. Those conditions have for
many years not been achievable and different hypotheses about zinc being available as oxide, metallic or in alloy with copper arose but could not
be unambiguously verified," says Anders Nilsson, professor of Chemical
Physics at Stockholm University.

"It is fantastic that we have been able to shed light into this complex
topic of methanol formation over copper-zinc catalyst after many years
of effort" says Peter Amann, first author of the publication.

"What is special is that we have built a photoelectron spectroscopy
instrument in Stockholm that allows studies of catalyst surfaces under
high pressures and thereby directly been able to observe what happens
when the reaction takes place," says David Degerman, PhD student in
Chemical Physics at Stockholm University. "We have opened a new door
into catalysis with our new instrument." "We have succeeded using our instrument to demonstrate that zinc is alloyed with copper right at
the surface and this provides special atomic sites where methanol is
created from carbon dioxide," says Chris Goodwin, researcher in Chemical Physics at Stockholm University. "During industrial processes, a small
amount of carbon monoxide is mixed in, which prevents the formation of
zinc oxide from carbon dioxide." "To have our Stockholm instrument at
one of the brightest x-ray sources in the world at PETRA III in Hamburg
has been crucial to conduct the study," says Patrick Lo"mker, Postdoc at Stockholm University. "We can now imagine the future with even brighter
sources when the machine upgrades to PETRA IV." "We now have the tools
to conduct research leading to possible other catalyst materials that
can be used better to fit together with electrolysis-produced hydrogen
for the green transition of the chemical industry, which today is
completely fossil-based and accounts for 8% of the world-wide carbon
dioxide emissions," says Anders Nilsson.

The study was conducted in collaboration with the University of Innsbruck
and Vienna Technical University, Austria and DESY in Hamburg and the Fritz-Haber Institute in Berlin, Germany. The study included former
employees at the University Peter Amann, Hsin-Yi Wang, Markus Soldemo,
Mikhail Shiplin, Jo"rgen Gladh, Joakim Halldin Stenlid and Mia Bo"rner.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Stockholm_University. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Peter Amann, Bernhard Klo"tzer, David Degerman, Norbert Ko"pfle,
Thomas
Go"tsch, Patrick Lo"mker, Christoph Rameshan, Kevin Ploner,
Djuro Bikaljevic, Hsin-Yi Wang, Markus Soldemo, Mikhail Shipilin,
Christopher M. Goodwin, Jo"rgen Gladh, Joakim Halldin Stenlid, Mia
Bo"rner, Christoph Schlueter, Anders Nilsson. The state of zinc in
methanol synthesis over a Zn/ZnO/Cu(211) model catalyst. Science,
2022; 376 (6593): 603 DOI: 10.1126/science.abj7747 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220505143717.htm

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