Catalytic activity of Cu/ZnO catalysts mediated by MgO promoter in hydrogenation of methyl acetate to ethanol

Hydrogenation of methyl acetate is a key step in ethanol synthesis from dimethyl ether carbonylation and Cu-based catalysts are widely studied.We report here that the hydrogenation activity of Cu/ZnO catalysts can be enhanced by the addition of MgO promoter.The evolution of crystal phases during coprecipitation and the physicochemical properties of calcined and reduced catalysts by X-ray diffraction(XRD),thermogravimetric(TG)-mass spectrometry(MS),Brunauer-Emmett-Teller(BET),transmission electron microscopy(TEM),N_(2)O titration,in situ CO-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR)and H_(2)-temperature programmed reduction(H_(2)-TPR)reveal that the promoter effect likely lies in the presence of Mg^(2+).A proper amount of Mg^(2+)mediates the precipitation process of Cu and Zn,leading to preferable formation of aurichalcite(Cu_(x)Zn_(1-x))5(CO_(3))_(2)(OH)_(6) crystal phase and a small amount of basic carbonates such as hydrozincite Zn_(5)(CO_(3))_(2)(OH)_(6) and malachite Cu_(2) CO_(3)(OH)_(2).The presence of aurichalcite strengthens the interaction between Cu and Zn species,and thus enhances the dispersity of CuO species and helps generation of Cu^(+)species on reduced catalysts.Furthermore,the performance of Cu/ZnO catalysts exhibits an optimal dependence on the Mg loading,i.e.,17.5%.However,too much Mg^(2+)in the precipitation liquid prohibits formation of aurichalcite but enhances formation of basic nitrates,leading to a dramatically reduced hydrogenation activity.These findings may find applications for optimization of other Cu-based catalysts in a wider range of hydrogenation reactions.

A Modified Co-precipitation Method to Prepare Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 Catalyst and Its Application in Low Temperature Water-gas Shift(LT-WGS)Reaction

A modified co-precipitation method for the production of Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 complex was studied. The modification was that part of Al was introduced by adding Al^（3＋） into Cu^（2＋）/Zn^（2＋） solution, and the rest of Al was added after co-precipitation step in the form of pseudo-boehmite. The prepared samples were characterized by different techniques such as X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption, H2-N2O titration, temperature programmed reduction and scanning electron microscopy. X-ray diffraction characterizations revealed that Al^（3＋） can be doped in aurichalcite lattice, and the maximum doping amount of Al^（3＋） was 5.0% of total Cu and Zn atoms. The Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 sample produced by the modified method, in which co-precipitated Al^（3＋） was 2.5% of total Cu and Zn atoms showed much better activity and stability in water-gas shift reaction than commercial sample. The high Cu surface area（26.1 m^2/g） obtained by decompositon of doped aurichalcite is believed to be responsible for the activity enhancement. The stability was enhanced mainly because of the support effect of γ-Al2O3, which was decomposed from pseudo-boehmite in the calcination step.