Synthesis of InZrOx nanosheets and its application in CO2 hydrogenation to methanol

The InZrOx nanosheets had peculiar structure and plenty of oxygen defects, and displayed eminent performance in methanol synthesis from CO2 and H2. [Display omitted] •Two-dimensional InZrOx nanosheets were synthesized via a simple solvothermal method.•The InZrOx nanosheets had peculiar structure and plenty of oxygen defects.•The optimized ZrO2(30)-In2O3 nanosheets showed ∼ 90 % methanol selectivity and an activity of 1.4 mmol gIn-1h−1 at 180 °C.•Water as a clean solvent participated in the kinetic process of the reaction.. Synthesis of methanol via CO2 hydrogenation is a very important reaction. In recent years, the In2O3 based catalysts were proved to be a sort of promising catalysts to accelerate this reaction, which have aroused extensive attention. However, design of novel In2O3 based catalysts that can efficiently produce methanol from CO2 hydrogenation at low temperature is still in great need. Herein we fabricated the InZrOx nanosheets via a simple solvothermal method, which had peculiar surface structure and plenty of oxygen defects. The InZrOx nanosheets displayed excellent low temperature catalytic performance in a slurry reactor. The methanol selectivity (90 %) and activity (1.4 mmol gIn-1h−1) were achieved at 180 °C, which are 2.3 and 1.6 times than that of the counterpart nanoparticles, respectively. Water as a clean and cheap reaction solvent played a crucial role, which participated in the kinetic process of the catalysis. The particular catalyst structure and the solvent effect of water accounting for the outstanding reaction results.