A highly efficient Cu-ZnO/SBA-15 catalyst for CO2 hydrogenation to CO under atmospheric pressure

The conversion of CO2 to useful chemicals has been considered as an essential strategy to mitigate greenhouse gas emission. In this work, Cu/SBA-15 and Cu-ZnO/SBA-15 catalysts were prepared and used for CO2 hydrogenation to CO. Although both catalysts give excellent CO selectivity (99.9%), Cu-ZnO/SBA-15 exhibits more superior catalytic activity with CO2 conversion of 29.1% at400 °C and atmospheric pressure. High specific surface area and confinement structure of SBA-15 and the addition of ZnO make Cu nanoparticles more dispersed. Because of this extraordinary dispersion, Cu-ZnO/SBA-15 has strong ability to interact with CO2 and H2 and behaves better catalytic CO2 hydrogenation performance than most catalysts in previous articles. Moreover, Cu-ZnO/SBA-15 has good catalytic stability and has, therefore, great potential for industrial application.