Discovery of superior Cu-GaOx-HoOy catalysts for the reduction of carbon dioxide to methanol at atmospheric pressure

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cctc.201600020

Catalytic conversion of carbon dioxide to liquid fuels and basic chemicals by using solar-derived hydrogen at, or near, ambient pressure is a highly desirable goal in heterogeneous catalysis. If realized, this technology could lead to a more sustainable society together with decentralized power generation. A novel class of holmium-containing multi-metal oxide Cu catalysts, discovered through the application of high-throughput methods, is reported. In particular, ternary systems of Cu-GaOx-HoOy>Cu-CeOx-HoOy approximate to Cu-LaOx-HoOy supported on -Al2O3 exhibited superior methanol production (10x) with less CO formation than previously reported catalysts at 1atm pressure. Holmium was shown to be highly dispersed as few-atom clusters, suggesting that the formation of trimetallic sites could be the key for the promotion of methanol synthesis by Ho.