Highly selective conversion of CO to methanol on the CuZnO-ZrO solid solution with the assistance of plasma

CuZnO-ZrO 2 -C was prepared by a co-precipitation method. For comparison, CuZnO-ZrO 2 -PC and CuZnO-ZrO 2 -CP were prepared by glow discharge plasma. The catalysts were characterized via the XRD, N 2 adsorption-desorption, TEM, SEM, EDS, XPS, CO 2 -TPD and H 2 -TPR techniques. The catalysts were comparatively investigated for CO 2 conversion and methanol selectivity in a fixed-bed reactor under the condition of 2 MPa, 250 °C, H 2 /CO 2 = 3/1 and GHSV = 12 000 mL g −1 h −1 . The results showed that the activities of the catalysts increased in the order of CuZnO-ZrO 2 -PC > CuZnO-ZrO 2 -CP > CuZnO-ZrO 2 -C. Moreover, the CO 2 conversion of CuZnO-ZrO 2 -C increased by 38.9% via treatment with glow discharge plasma. The results are well explained based on the CO 2 -TPD and H 2 -TPR characterizations of the catalysts. CuZnO-ZrO 2 -C was prepared by a co-precipitation method.