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Evaluation of Advanced Catalysts for Green Methanol Synthesis

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Treballs Finals de Grau de Química, Facultat de Química, Universitat de Barcelona, Any: 2026, Tutor: Jordi Guilera Sala, Cippora Magagnin

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Methanol is of significant interest for integrated hydrogen production systems, both for transportation fuels and industrial uses, due to the advantageous properties of methanol as a hydrogen carrier. On this context, green methanol has emerged as a promising liquid fuel capable of substantially reducing carbon emissions and supporting the transition of the transport sector toward carbon neutrality. While conventional Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 (CZA) catalysts have been widely employed in methanol production, recent advances such as Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) offers innovative approaches to catalyst synthesis. Evaluating this fabrication method can yield valuable insights into enhancing catalytic performance and sustainability.
This study explores the synthesis and performance of Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalysts for methanol synthesis, with a particular focus on minimizing CuO content and studying the effects of the addition of ZnO, assessing ALD as an alternative to traditional preparation techniques. The main objective of this project is to review the best alternative of CuO precursor to synthetize the catalyst using the wet impregnation method, and once determined, compare and assess the catalytic activity of methanol synthesis catalysts prepared via ALD and conventional impregnation method. Through laboratory-scale experiments, the study aims to identify the most effective synthesis method in terms of activity, selectivity, and long-term stability.
Catalysts with a varying CuO content were prepared using wet impregnation and those catalysts containing ZnO were deposited using ALD methods. Samples were studied by common analytical techniques. The catalytic activity of catalysts was evaluated in methanol synthesis reactions conducted at temperatures between 200-300ºC.
This research has determined that copper nitrate is the best option as a CuO precursor for synthesizing the catalyst using the wet impregnation method. Furthermore, it demonstrated the importance of the presence of ZnO in the catalyst, resulting in better methanol productivity compared to catalysts without ZnO. Finally, it was determined that catalysts impregnated with 10% wt of Cu0 performed better than the catalysts impregnated with 20% and 30% wt of Cu0, obtaining a methanol production of 26.5 mmol g-1 h-1 and a carbon conversion of 10.25%.

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Evaluation of Advanced Catalysts for Green Methanol Synthesis

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Avaluació de Catalitzadors Avançats per a la Síntesi de Metanol Verd