Dynamic Cu/Zn interaction in SiO2 supported methanol synthesis catalysts unravelled by in situ XAFS

In situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy XAFS at the Cu and Zn K-edge has been used to unravel the Cu/Zn interaction and identify the possible active site of Cu-based methanol synthesis catalysts in the Cu/ZnO/SiO2 ternary system. These highly dispersed silica supported catalysts, whose activity increases sharply as a function of the reduction temperature, were studied calcined, reduced at 200, 300, and 400 C, and for each reduction temperature under passivation/rereduction and methanol synthesis conditions. Results showed that the calcined form consists mainly of a mixed Cu/Zn hydrosilicate that is progressively transformed as the reduction temperature increases into (i) Cu metal particles, (ii) increasingly dispersed ZnO species on SiO2, and (iii) finally a Zn metallic phase forming segregated bimetallic Cu Zn α-brass alloy particles. These different structures and Cu/Zn interfaces may correspond to different active phases and activities in methanol synthesis. After reduction at 200 and 300 C, Cu0 is likely composing most of the active phase, whereas above 300 C, the sharp increase in the number Zn0-based sites formed as a function of the reduction temperature could explain the major role played by this parameter in controlling the activity of these catalysts. The dynamic Cu/Zn interaction as a function of the temperature and gas environment pointed out in this ternary system may be at the origin of the existence of different and sometimes contradictory models to account for the mechanisms of the methanol synthesis

Evolution of Cu-Zn-Si oxide catalysts in the course of reduction and reoxidation as studied by in situ X-ray diffraction analysis, transmission electron microscopy, and magnetic susceptibility methods

The reduced and reoxidized Cu-Zn-Si oxide catalysts as layered copper-zinc hydroxo silicates with the zincsilite structure were studied using in situ and ex situ X-ray diffraction analysis, transmission electron microscopy, and the temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility. The catalysts were prepared by homogeneous deposition-precipitation. It was found that Cu-0 particles were formed on the surface of a layered hydrosilicate with the zincsilite structure upon reduction with hydrogen. The reoxidation of the reduced samples with a mixture of oxygen and an inert gas, which contained no more than 0.05 vol % O-2, resulted in the formation of individual Cu2O and CuO phases; copper ions did not return to the hydrosilicate structure. Catalytic tests of Cu-Zn-Si catalysts in methanol synthesis indicate that the specific catalytic activity of copper metal particles grows linearly with increasing zinc loading. This fact suggests that copper metal particles, which were obtained by the reduction of Cu2+ ions from the copper-zinc hydroxo silicate with the zincsilite structure, were responsible for activity in methanol synthesis. Consequently, the ability to return copper ions to a precursor compound in reoxidation with oxygen at low concentrations, which is known for reduced Cu/ZnO catalysts (these catalysts are highly active in methanol synthesis), is not related to the catalytic activity in methanol synthesis