O3 Solid Solutions Research Articles

Degradation mechanism of Cr2O3‐Al2O3‐ZrO2 refractories in a coal‐water slurry gasifier: Role of stress cracks

AbstractDurability and corrosion behavior of refractory lining, a core part of a commercial water‐coal slurry gasifier, largely determine its gas yield rate and carbon conversion rate. In this work, corrosion behavior of high chromite‐containing refractory served for 4200 hours in a water‐coal slurry gasifier was studied, and the role of generated stress cracks on its degradation behavior was elucidated. The results demonstrated that the depth of penetration under the assistance of the cracks was up to 2.60 cm, which was much deeper than that in the case free from stress crack. The sub‐surface, accompanied by cracking, provided a pathway for slag penetration and resulted in more severe corrosion. Furthermore, the isolation layer of (Cr, Fe, Al)2O3 solid solution on the refractory’ surface trapped most of the iron oxides. As a result, a further attack from other main corrosive species was controlled by their diffusion through it.

Thermodynamic and phase-field studies of phase transitions, domain structures, and switching for Ba(ZrxTi1−x)O3 solid solutions

While extensive experimental activities have been carried out to study the phase transitions and ferroelectric properties of BaZrxTi1-xO3 solid solutions, the corresponding theoretical understanding is largely lacking due to the unavailability of thermodynamic potentials for this system. In this work, an eighth-order polynomial of thermodynamic potential for BaZrxTi1-xO3 (x≤0.3) solid solutions is established based on the existing potential coefficients of BaTiO3 and theexperimentally measured phase diagram of BaZrxTi1-xO3 solid solutions. It is then employed to predict and understand the domain structures and switching for BaZrxTi1-xO3 (x ≤0.3) single crystals using phase-field simulations. The simulated domain structures and switching are consistent with thermodynamic analysis and available experimental measurements, validating the established thermodynamic potential. It is expected that this thermodynamic potential will find wide applications to studying the phase transitions and ferroelectric properties of BaZrxTi1-xO3 (x ≤0.3) bulk and nanoscale materials.

Структура, диэлектрические и магнитодиэлектрические свойства керамики мультиферроика 0.5BiFeO-=SUB=-3-=/SUB=--0.5PbFe-=SUB=-0.5-=/SUB=-Nb-=SUB=-0.5-=/SUB=-O-=SUB=-3-=/SUB=-

The structure, dielectric characteristics, and magnetoelectric effect of multiferroic 0.5BiFeO3–0.5PbFe0.5Nb0.5O3 ceramics were studied. Ceramics are found to be pure. At room temperature, ceramics has a cubic structure close to а = 3.999(5) Å, which remains in the temperature range of 20–600 оС. It was shown that 0.5BiFeO3–0.5PbFe0.5Nb0.5O3 solid solution at Т < 200 оС combines both ferroelectric and antiferromagnetic properties. At room temperature in a constant magnetic field of 0.86 T, magnetodielectric coefficient and dielectric loss in the material are –0.4 % and –0.5 %, respectively.

Luminescence in external dopant-free scandium-phosphorus vanadate solid solution: a spectroscopic and theoretical investigation

Manipulating the high valence secondary P5+/V5+ ions in the external dopant-free Sc(Px,V1−x)O4 (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 1.0) solid solution enables resulting in the spectral tuning, enhanced photoluminescence (PL) intensity, and improved thermally induced PL quenching stability.

Lewis acid-oxygen vacancy interfacial synergistic catalysis over SO42−/Ce0.84Zr0.16O2–WO3–ZrO2 for N,N-diethylation of aniline with ethanol

Herein, a new mechanism involving Lewis acid-oxygen vacancy interfacial synergistic catalysis for aniline N,N-diethylation with ethanol was proposed, and the SO42−/Ce0.84Zr0.16O2–WO3–ZrO2 catalyst (SCWZ) with both Lewis acid sites and oxygen vacancies was synthesized by the hydrothermal method, which shows better catalytic activity than the reported solid acidic catalysts. Besides, the SO42−/ZrO2 (SZ) and SO42−/WO3–ZrO2 (SWZ) catalysts were also prepared and compared with SCWZ to investigate the synergistic effect of each component. The SO42− and WO3 mainly generate Lewis acid by bonding with ZrO2, which is beneficial for the fracture of the N–H bond in aniline. The Ce0.84Zr0.16O2 solid solution mainly plays a vital role in generating the oxygen vacancies as the interface active species, which can participate in stripping –OH from ethanol, then the carbocation will also be released, which only needs 1.3805 kcal/mol energy, calculated by density functional theory (DFT), to be input. In comparison, the traditional reaction mechanism needs the Brønsted acidic sites to promote the protonation of ethanol, then dehydration and subsequent formation of carbocation followed, and 108.6846 kcal/mol energy needs to be input, which is far higher than that of the new mechanism. The apparent activation energy (Ea) over SCWZ was measured by experiment to be 34.09 kJ/mol, which is much lower than that of SWZ (47.10 kJ/mol) and SZ (54.37 kJ/mol), illustrating comparatively preferable kinetics for SCWZ than that of SWZ and SZ. Besides, the conversion of aniline and selectivity to N,N-diethylaniline over SCWZ reach almost 100% and 73%, respectively. The SCWZ can be renewed for 4 times without rapid deactivation, and the longevity of SCWZ is longer than that of SWZ and SZ, as the loaded SO42− and tetragonal ZrO2 are stabilized by Ce0.84Zr0.16O2 and WO3, respectively.

Composition-dependent phase evolution and enhanced electrostrain properties of (Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3–BaTiO3–Bi(Li0.5Ta0.5)O3 lead-free ceramics

Exploring lead-free materials to substitute the commercialized PZT-based compounds is in great demand for the development of miniaturized and nonhazardous actuator devices. Here, a new ternary lead-free (1-x)(Bi0.5Na0.5)1-yBayTiO3-xBi(Li0.5Ta0.5)O3 (BNBTy-xBLT) solid solution system is designed to optimize the electrostrain performance of the well-studied BNT ceramics, and the effects of BLT and Ba substitutions on phase evolution as well as electrical performances of BNT ceramics are systematically investigated. All the compositions prepared by solid-state sintering process exhibit similar pseudocubic phase with rhombohedral/tetragonal distortions in nanoregions. Through optimizing the BLT and Ba contents, the composition with 6.9 mol% Ba and 0.8 mol% BLT exhibits the maximum unipolar strain of ∼0.39% (equivalent normalized strain d33*∼654 pm/V, 60 kV/cm). Moreover, the origin of the excellent electrostrain response is emphatically analyzed from microscopic (domain structure evolution) and macroscopic (TF-R shifting) perspectives, which results from the electric-field-induced reversible relaxor-ferroelectric phase transition. These results suggest the composition-optimized BNT-BT-BLT system as a potential alternate to lead-based systems in actuator applications.

Synthesis, spectroscopic and luminescence properties of Ga–doped γ–Al2O3

Gallium-doped aluminum oxide (Al1-xGax)2O3 with γ-Al2O3 (spinel) structure has been synthesized by the precursor method using the formate Al1-xGax(OH)(HCOO)2 as a precursor. The examination of Al1-xGax(OH)(HCOO)2 (x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4) was carried out by X-ray powder diffraction, Infrared, Raman spectroscopy and differential-thermal methods. The solid solutions γ-(Al1-xGax)2O3 with х≤0.2 have been synthesized by thermolysis of precursors in helium atmosphere at 700 °C; they exhibit white-blue emission under UV excitation, whose intensity lowers with increasing dopant concentration. As an independent method, the DFT calculations confirmed thermodynamically the stability field of γ-(Al1-xGax)2O3 solid solutions and the NMR data on relative abundance of Al and Ga within the tetrahedral and octahedral sites in the metal sublattice. Furthermore, the structural and thermodynamic properties of carbon-containing impurities within these compounds were suggested theoretically as possible models of luminescence emission centers. The experimentally observed Ga-dependent quenching of luminescence was explained using the competition between C2p and Ga4p states within the band gap of γ-Al2O3.

Thermally-induced phase transformations in KNNS-BNKZ lead-free piezoceramics

Promising piezoelectric properties have been reported in potassium sodium niobate-based ceramics by introducing Bi0.5(Na0.82K0.18)0.5ZrO3 (BNKZ) into K0.48Na0.52Nb0.95Sb0.05O3 (KNNS) solid solutions in order to control the polymorphic phase transformation temperatures. In the present study, synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction (SXPD) was employed in combination with dielectric and ferroelectric measurements in order to clarify the influence of BNKZ on the phase transition temperatures of (1-x)KNNS-(x)BNKZ ceramics (with x = 0 to 0.05). The results, presented in terms of temperature-dependent SXPD patterns, dielectric permittivity and thermal depolarisation characteristics, confirmed that polymorphic phase transformation temperatures all shifted in a systematic manner with increasing BNKZ content. Broadening of the phase transition regions was also observed with increasing BNKZ content, leading to improvements in thermal stability of the ferroelectric properties. Microstructural examination of the KNNS-BNKZ ceramics revealed the presence of core-shell microstructures; this was correlated with the presence of weak shoulders on the diffraction peaks.

Thermophysical properties of (UxAm1−x)O2 MOX fuel

The effect of the addition of americium on the thermophysical properties of uranium dioxide (UO2) has been systematically studied by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation technique in the whole concentration range of americium and the temperature range from 300 K to 3200 K. The predicted thermophysical properties for (UxAm1−x)O2 solid solutions agree well with the available experimental data. The lattice parameters decreased with the increase in americium concentration and obey Vegard's law up to 2000 K. There is no significant change in the enthalpy, heat capacity, lattice expansion, and thermal conductivity as we increased the concentration of americium. Overall, a series of empirical models are derived for the thermophysical properties of (UxAm1−x)O2 MOX fuel based on the MD data.

Gel Combustion Synthesis of Li(Ni,Mn,Co,Fe)O2 Solid Solutions

An option for the homogeneous substitution of iron for cobalt, nickel, and manganese in solid solutions with a α-NaFeO2-type layered structure formed in the system Li–Ni–Mn–Co–O was studied. Two sets of samples, namely, Li(Ni0.33Mn0.33Co0.33)1 –xFexO2 and Li(Ni0.60Mn0.20Co0.20)1 –xFexO2 (0 ≤ х ≤ 1), were prepared by combusting sucrose- or starch-based gels and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction. It is the first time that single-phase Li(Ni,Mn,Co,Fe)O2 samples containing 15–20% Fe of the total amount of cations were prepared. The position of a metastable area of Li(Ni,Mn,Co,Fe)O2 solid solutions with respect to the section LiNiO2–LiMn0.5Co0.5O2–LiFeO2 was determined in the frame of the isobaric–isothermal tetrahedron LiNiO2–LiMnO2–LiCoO2–LiFeO2.

Physicochemical characterization of Pt and Ir particles deposited on Ce(1-x)Ru(x)O2 solid-solutions for CO oxidation

AbstractPt/Ce1-xRuxO2 and Ir/Ce1-xRuxO2 catalysts were prepared through the sol-gel technique, under microwave heating. In a first step, the Ce1-xRuxO2 solid solutions were prepared. Subsequently, an incipient wet impregnation process was carried out to homogeneously achieve the dispersion, either of platinum or iridium nanoparticles. The Pt/Ce1-xRuxO2 and Ir/Ce1-xRuxO2 catalysts were characterized by means of SEM, XRD, XPS, TEM, and specific surface area measurements. Crystal size and shifting into the CeO2 structure were detected after ruthenium doping producing the Ce1-xRuxO2 solid-solutions. Trough XPS technique Pt and Ir nanoparticles were found evenly dispersed in a metallic state. Those features allow us to foresee that, in the near future, these materials could be used efficiently as catalysts for oxidation process.

Structural, optical, and magnetic properties of a new system of Bi(Mn0.5Ti0.5)O3-modified Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 materials

Bi(Mn0.5Ti0.5)O3-modified Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 materials were fabricated via the sol-gel method. X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering studies indicated that Bi(Mn0.5Ti0.5)O3 materials were a solid solution in host Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 materials. The optical band gap energy was reduced from 3.06 eV for pure Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 sample to 1.78 eV for 9 mol% Bi(Mn0.5Ti0.5)O3 solid solution in Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 samples. The magnetic properties of Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 materials were tuned in terms of Bi(Mn0.5Ti0.5)O3 concentration. The competition of weak ferromagnetism and diamagnetism was obtained in pure Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 materials. The diamagnetic components of pure Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 materials were suppressed and showed typical ferromagnetism for Bi(Mn0.5Ti0.5)O3-modified host Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 materials with 3 mol% Bi(Mn0.5Ti0.5)O3 as a solid solution. A high Bi(Mn0.5Ti0.5)O3 concentration in a solid solution in host Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 materials was favorable to paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic-like components. The optical band gap energy and tunable magnetic properties of Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 materials were decreased by Bi(Mn0.5Ti0.5)O3 materials as a solid solution possibly because of diffusion and random incorporation in the host lattice of Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 materials. Our work could be used as a basis for further developing multifunction materials by integrating ferromagnetism to lead-free ferroelectric materials for smart electronic applications.

Lead titanate-induced abnormal ferroelectric/antiferroelectric phase transitions in Pb(Lu0.5Nb0.5)O3 solid solutions

The development of bulk materials with ferroelectric/antiferroelectric (FE/AFE) phase transitions is of importance for meeting the needs of advanced electronic equipment. Here, we report a (1 − x)Pb(Lu0.5Nb0.5)O3-xPbTiO3 (abbreviated as PLNT100x) system, which shows a particular FE/AFE-like phase transition. A partial phase diagram with low PT content was delimited on the basis of the X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimeter, second harmonic generation, ferroelectric hysteresis loops and first-order reversal curve (FORC) methods. The intermediate phase showed AFE hysteresis loops may stem from the weakly polar to the polar phase during electrical poling and the lowering long-range ordering degree. It is a guideline to modulate the electric properties of PLNT AFE system such as Curie temperature, energy storage density and pyroelectric properties, by means of the control of composition.

Structure, mechanical characteristics and thermal stability of high speed physical vapor deposition (Al,Cr)2O3 coatings

In recent years (Al,Cr)2O3 coatings manufactured by physical vapor deposition (PVD) gained great interest as alternative to α-Al2O3 coatings deposited by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), due to their potential to form corundum-type structure at lower process temperatures, T ≤ 700 °C. In this context, also metastable tetragonal (Al,Cr)2O3 solid solution and semi-crystalline α-(Al,Cr)2O3 coatings were developed by high speed (HS)-PVD technology. The chemical analysis of the coatings in this paper confirmed, that the deposition of semi-crystalline α-(Al,Cr)2O3 coatings with high aluminum content, xAl ≥ 70 At.%, is possible at moderate substrate temperature, Tsub = 570 °C. With regard to the application on cutting and molding tools, the thermal stability of the developed coatings is of great interest. Therefore, the thermal stability of the deposited tetragonal and α-(Al,Cr)2O3 phases was investigated by annealing tests in vacuum up to T = 1300 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements after the annealing tests in vacuum revealed a phase stability of semi-crystalline α-(Al,Cr)2O3 and metastable tetragonal (Al,Cr)2O3 coating up to T = 600 °C and T = 800 °C, respectively. Diffusion processes during annealing at high temperatures in vacuum lead to significant structural changes, showing detrimental effects on the mechanical properties of the coatings. Due to thermal induced structural, chemical and mechanical changes, the evaluations confirmed a thermal stability of the (Al,Cr)2O3 coatings up to a temperature of T = 800 °C in vacuum.

CO Oxidation over Metal Oxide (La2O3, Fe2O3, PrO2, Sm2O3, and MnO2) Doped CuO-Based Catalysts Supported on Mesoporous Ce0.8Zr0.2O2 with Intensified Low-Temperature Activity

CuO-based catalysts are usually used for CO oxidation owing to their low cost and excellent catalytic activities. In this study, a series of metal oxide (La2O3, Fe2O3, PrO2, Sm2O3, and MnO2)-doped CuO-based catalysts with mesoporous Ce0.8Zr0.2O2 support were simply prepared by the incipient impregnation method and used directly as catalysts for CO catalytic oxidation. These mesoporous catalysts were systematically characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), N2 physisorption, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersed spectroscopy (EDS) mapping, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and H2 temperature programmed reduction (H2-TPR). It was found that the CuO and the dopants were highly dispersed among the mesoporous framework via the incipient impregnation method, and the strong metal framework interaction had been formed. The effects of the types of the dopants and the loading amounts of the dopants on the low-temperature catalytic performances were carefully studied. It was concluded that doped transition metal oxides could regulate the oxygen mobility and reduction ability of catalysts, further improving the catalytic activity. It was also found that the high dispersion of rare earth metal oxides (PrO2, Sm2O3) was able to prevent the thermal sintering and aggregation of CuO-based catalysts during the process of calcination. In addition, their presence also evidently improved the reducibility and significantly reduced the particle size of the CuO active sites for CO oxidation. The results demonstrated that the 15CuO-3Fe2O3/M-Ce80Zr20 catalyst with 3 wt. % of Fe2O3 showed the best low-temperature catalytic activity toward CO oxidation. Overall, the present Fe2O3-doped CuO-based catalysts with mesoporous nanocrystalline Ce0.8Zr0.2O2 solid solution as support were considered a promising series of catalysts for low-temperature CO oxidation.

Luminescent materials comprised of wood-based carbon quantum dots adsorbed on a Ce0.7Zr0.3O2 solid solution: synthesis, photoluminescence properties, and applications in light-emitting diode devices

In this study, a luminescent material of wood-based carbon quantum dots (CQDs)/Ce0.7Zr0.3O2 with a regular, uniform shape, and a high color purity was synthesized by a facile method. CexZr1−xO2 solid-solution oxides (x = 0.7) were prepared by a hydrothermal method, and CQDs were adsorbed on the as-obtained Ce0.7Zr0.3O2 nanoparticles. The crystal structure was identified by powder X-ray diffraction and Rietveld refinement. In addition, the effect of adsorbed CQDs on the luminescence properties of Ce0.7Zr0.3O2 was systematically investigated by Raman spectroscopy, elemental analysis, electron spin resonance spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy, as well as decay curve and quantum yield (QY) measurements. Herein, a promising strategy of surface engineering, that is, reduction of the surface defect concentration in Ce0.7Zr0.3O2 by the adsorption of CQDs to decrease the nonradiative transition processes at defect sites was described. As expected, the adsorption of CQDs decreased the Ce–O bond length and the surface defect concentration of Ce0.7Zr0.3O2, thereby effectively decreasing the nonradiative transition processes and suppressing fluorescence quenching. Hence, CQDs/Ce0.7Zr0.3O2 with a perfect cubic structure exhibits a performance improvement in terms of the luminescence and QY value. Furthermore, a light-emitting diode device was fabricated using as-synthesized CQDs/Ce0.7Zr0.3O2, emitting apparent yellow light with a high color purity (93.3%), with International Commission on Illumination coordinates of (0.5239, 0.4531), and a low correlated color temperature (2271 K) under a driven current of 60 mA, suggesting that CQDs/Ce0.7Zr0.3O2 exhibits potential for practical applications.

Large-Pore Mesoporous CeO2 -ZrO2 Solid Solutions with In-Pore Confined Pt Nanoparticles for Enhanced CO Oxidation.

Active and stable catalysts are highly desired for converting harmful substances (e.g., CO, NOx ) in exhaust gases of vehicles into safe gases at low exhaust temperatures. Here, a solvent evaporation-induced co-assembly process is employed to design ordered mesoporous Cex Zr1- x O2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) solid solutions by using high-molecular-weight poly(ethylene oxide)-block-polystyrene as the template. The obtained mesoporous Cex Zr1- x O2 possesses high surface area (60-100 m2 g-1 ) and large pore size (12-15 nm), enabling its great capacity in stably immobilizing Pt nanoparticles (4.0 nm) without blocking pore channels. The obtained mesoporous Pt/Ce0.8 Zr0.2 O2 catalyst exhibits superior CO oxidation activity with a very low T100 value of 130 °C (temperature of 100% CO conversion) and excellent stability due to the rich lattice oxygen vacancies in the Ce0.8 Zr0.2 O2 framework. The simulated catalytic evaluations of CO oxidation combined with various characterizations reveal that the intrinsic high surface oxygen mobility and well-interconnected pore structure of the mesoporous Pt/Ce0.8 Zr0.2 O2 catalyst are responsible for the remarkable catalytic efficiency. Additionally, compared with mesoporous Pt/Cex Zr1- x O2 -s with small pore size (3.8 nm), ordered mesoporous Pt/Cex Zr1- x O2 not only facilitates the mass diffusion of reactants and products, but also provides abundant anchoring sites for Pt nanoparticles and numerous exposed catalytically active interfaces for efficient heterogeneous catalysis.

Highly Efficient Degradation of Polyacrylamide by an Fe-Doped Ce0.75Zr0.25O2 Solid Solution/CF Composite Cathode in a Heterogeneous Electro-Fenton Process

Polyacrylamide (PAM) in environmental water has become a major problem in water pollution management due to its high molecular mass, corrosion resistance, high viscosity, and nonabsorption by soil. The composite of Fe-doped Ce0.75Zr0.25O2 solid solution (Fe-Ce0.75Zr0.25O2) loaded on carbon felt (CF) was fabricated by a hydrothermal synthesis method, which was used as the cathode in a heterogeneous electro-Fenton system for the degradation of PAM. It showed that the degradation efficiency of PAM by the Fe-Ce0.75Zr0.25O2/CF cathode was 86% after 120 min and the molecular mass of PAM decreased by more than 90% after 300 min. Total organic carbon removal reached 78.86% in the presence of Fe-Ce0.75Zr0.25O2/CF, while the value was only 38.01% in the absence of Fe-Ce0.75Zr0.25O2. Further studies showed that the breaking of the chain begins with the amide bond, and then, the carbon chain was cracked into a short alkyl chain. As degradation progressed, both the complex viscosity and elasticity modulus of PAM solutions decreased nearly 50% at 300 min. It indicated that •OH were the most significant active species for the degradation of PAM. This novel Fe-Ce0.75Zr0.25O2/CF composite is an efficient and promising electrode for the removal of PAM in wastewater.

Effect of Cr2O3 addition on oxidation induration and reduction swelling behavior of chromium-bearing vanadium titanomagnetite pellets with simulated coke oven gas

The oxidation induration and reduction swelling behavior of chromium-bearing vanadium titanomagnetite pellets (CVTP) with Cr2O3 addition were studied, and the reduction swelling index (RSI) and compressive strength (CS) of the reduced CVTP with simulated coke oven gas (COG) injection were investigated. The results showed that the CS of the CVTP decreases and the porosity of the CVTP increases with increasing amount of Cr2O3 added. The Cr2O3 mainly exists in the form of (Cr, Fe)2O3 solid solution in the CVTP and as Fe-Cr in the reduced CVTP. The CS of the reduced CVTP increases and the RSI of the reduced CVTP decreases with increasing amount of Cr2O3 added. The limited aggregation and diffusion of metallic iron contribute to the formation of dense lamellar crystals, which leads to the slight decrease for reduction swelling behavior of reduced CVTP. This work provides a theoretical and technical basis for the utilization of CVTP and other Cr-bearing ores such as chromite with COG recycling technology.

CO2 hydrogenation over acid-activated Attapulgite/Ce0.75Zr0.25O2 nanocomposite supported Cu-ZnO based catalysts

A series of Cu-ZnO based catalysts supported on the Attapulgite/Ce0.75Zr0.25O2 (ATP-CZO) nanocomposite prepared by different methods were synthesized using impregnation method for CO2 hydrogenation to CO and methanol. The physicochemical properties and catalytic performance of these catalysts were investigated by N2 adsorption/desorption, XRD, FE-SEM, TEM, N2O chemisorption, XPS, H2-TPR and CO2-TPD techniques. Results showed that the ATP-CZO-SC-P400 nanocomposite prepared by polyethylene glycol (PEG 400) modified solution combustion (SC) method owned the best dispersion of CZO particles on the ATP-CZO composite. Due to the dispersing effect of PEG 400, the intensity of Ce0.75Zr0.25O2 solid solution was enhanced, and the interaction between Ce-Zr-O oxides and ATP support was improved. Furthermore, the formation of strong basic sites and copper surface area of the catalyst were enhanced. As a result, the CZFK/ATP-CZO-SC-P400 catalyst showed the highest yield of methanol and CO from CO2 hydrogenation. The intimate contact between metallic Cu sites and strong basic sites of ZnO, ATP-CZO composite and ZnO-CZO interfaces on the surface of catalyst was considered as an important factor. Attapulgite, with unique property, low cost and easy availability, is a potential catalyst support for CO2 hydrogenation reaction.