MSGID: 1:317/3 6274a476   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    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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