Direct Conversion of CO2 into Dimethyl Ether over Al2O3/Cu/ZnO Catalysts Prepared by Sequential Precipitation

Bifunctional Al2O3/Cu/ZnO catalysts with Al composition of between 30 mol% and 80 mol% were prepared by sequential precipitation (SP) for the conversion of CO2 into dimethyl ether (DME). In the SP synthesis, the concentration of a precipitation agent managed to be high enough to induce the complete precipitation of Al3+. The prepared precipitates were composed of zincian malachite and amorphous AlO(OH). Furthermore, the calcined mixed metal oxide materials of 60% and 80% Al exhibited a higher acidity than commercial Al2O3 and the H-2-reduced catalysts showed the similar Cu dispersion of 6%-7% at all Cu loadings. In the activity test at 573 K and 50 bar, the SP-derived catalyst of 80% Al (SP-80) displayed the best performance corresponding to CO2 conversion of 25% and DME selectivity of 75% that are close to equilibrium values. In order to overcome the thermodynamic limitation, a dual-bed catalyst system was made up of SP-80 in the first layer and zeolite ferrierite in the next. This approach enabled DME selectivity to be enhanced to 90% while CO2 conversion increased a little. Consequently, the studied catalyst system based on the SP-derived catalysts can contribute greatly to selective DME production from CO2.