Theoretical Study of Methanol Synthesis from CO2Hydrogenation on Metal-Doped Cu(111) Surfaces

Abstract

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulations were employed to investigate the methanol synthesis reaction from CO2 hydrogenation (CO2 + 3H2 → CH3OH + H2O) on metal-doped Cu(111) surfaces. Both the formate pathway and the reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) reaction followed by a CO hydrogenation pathway (RWGS + CO-Hydro) were considered in the study. Our calculations showed that the overall methanol yield increased in the sequence: Au/Cu(111) < Cu(111) < Pd/Cu(111) < Rh/Cu(111) < Pt/Cu(111) < Ni/Cu(111). On Au/Cu(111) and Cu(111), the formate pathway dominates the methanol production. Doping Au does not help the methanol synthesis on Cu(111). Pd, Rh, Pt, and Ni are able to promote the methanol production on Cu(111), where the conversion via the RWGS + CO-Hydro pathway is much faster than that via the formate pathway. Further kinetic analysis revealed that the methanol yield on Cu(111) was controlled by three factors: the dioxomethylene hydrogenation barrier, the CO bin...