The effect of CuO crystallite size on the structure and performance of CuZnAl catalyst for mixed alcohols synthesis from syngas

Abstract

CuO with a large microcrystalline differentiation was prepared by hydrothermal method, and the activity of the CuZnAl catalysts prepared by combining CuO with ZnAl was tested in the CO hydrogenation reaction. The effect of Cu species crystallite size on catalytic structure and performance was revealed. The experimental results show that CuO crystallite grow with the raising of hydrothermal temperature. When the hydrothermal temperature was 130 °C, CZA-130 exhibited the stable crystallite size of Cu species, high Cu/Zn molar ratio, and strong interaction between copper and zinc oxide, so the selectivity of total alcohol could reach up to 71.39%. Moreover, the ratio of C2+OH in the alcohol product is positively correlated with higher ratio of Cu+/Cu0 and total number of alkalis, which are related to the ability of growing carbon chain.