Fabrication of a CuZn-based catalyst using a polyethylene glycol surfactant and supercritical drying

CuZn-Based catalysts have been applied in industrial methanol synthesis. However, in alcohol-assisted low-temperature methanol synthesis (LT-MS), preparation of highly efficient CuZn-based catalysts is still a considerable challenge. Here, we report two optimized strategies that use a polyethylene glycol (PEG) surfactant and supercritical CO2 drying with the urea co-precipitation method to synthesize the highly efficient CuZn-based catalysts. The PEG treatment is utilized to enhance porosity and improve surface functional groups of the CuZn-based catalysts, and the supercritical CO2 drying is employed to increase their reduction degree. The catalytic results of alcohol-assisted LT-MS reveal that via the two optimized strategies, a CuZn-SC-P5 catalyst exhibits superior catalytic performance. It is significantly different from the CuZn-based catalysts prepared by traditional impregnation methods, and also better than the catalysts treated by sole PEG treatment or supercritical CO2 drying. The present work provides multiple strategies to improve catalytic efficiency, and will be beneficial to explore new approaches in catalyst synthesis.