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A facile approach is demonstrated for the fabrication of Cu-ZnO-based hybrid nanostructures for the catalytic CO2 conversion to methanol. The method combines colloid stabilization of Al2O3 nanoparticles (as support material) and controlled co-precipitation of Cu (active metal) and ZnO (promoter) onto the Al2O3 nanoparticles. Complementary approaches, including X-ray diffractometry, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area analysis, N2O pulse chemisorption, CO2-based temperature-programmed desorption, transmission electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry and thermal gravimetric analysis are employed for the characterization of catalyst materials. The results show a successful synthesis of ultrafine Cu-ZnO nanocrystallites deposited on the Al2O3 nanoparticle clusters (Cu-ZnO@Al2O3). Hybridization with Al2O3 nanoparticles enhanced metal dispersion and number of basic sites of the Cu-ZnO-based nanocatalyst. Aminosilane-based surface functionalization on the Al2O3 nanoparticle increased metal surface area in the hybrid nanostructure. The CO2 conversion catalyzed by the synthesized Cu-ZnO@Al2O3 was shown to be proportional to active surface area of the hybrid nanostructure. An optimum selectivity of the synthesized catalyst was identified (≈47–49%) when the mass fraction of Al2O3 was (35–36) %, in correspondence to the highest moderate basicity of the synthesized hybrid nanostructures. The highest yield of methanol achieved 12989 ± 2007 µmolg−1 h−1 by the developed Cu-ZnO@Al2O3. Our work demonstrates a prototype study of fabricating high-performance hybrid nanocatalyst with the support of mechanistic understanding in material synthesis for the synergistic catalysis of CO2 hydrogenation to methanol.

A facile, aerosol-based controlled synthesis of porous Mg-Al-O composite nanoparticle is demonstrated for developing solid base catalysts with high performance for transesterification of soybean oil to biodiesel. Pore size, crystallite size and chemical composition of the Mg-Al-O composite nanoparticle are tunable by design. A significantly higher surface area (by 1.8 times) and a smaller pore size (i.e., decreased by 20%) of the Mg-Al-O composite particle achieved by using the aerosol-based synthesis than the conventional method. Hybridization with Al2O3 remarkably increased surface area of the MgO particle by decreasing pore size using homogenous Al precursor or increasing pore volume via choosing heterogeneous Al precursor. The fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) yield catalyzed by Mg-Al-O composite particle was significantly higher in comparison to the results without catalysts (i.e., a maximum of 3.4×). The FAME yield was proportional to methanol-to-oil molar ratio, and the highest yield was identified at Mg/Al = 4, in accordance to the highest number of strong basic site quantified via a CO2-based temperature-programmed desorption study. Operation stability (i.e., FAME yield declined by

In this work, ZnO nanoparticles were surface-modified by thermal shock method with HAuCl4 and KF as precursors at different temperatures. The impacts of our modification process on the crystal structure, morphology, surface functional groups and surface composition of catalysts were characterized by XRD, TEM, FTIR and XPS spectra, respectively. Their photocatalytic activity was investigated through the degradation of methylene blue under UVA light and visible light irradiation. According to the results, our modification method successfully improved the photocatalytic activity of ZnO. Among all catalysts, the sample co-modified with Au and F at thermal shock temperature of 400 °C showed the best performance which was three times greater than that of unmodified ZnO sample under both UVA light and visible light. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of our modified catalysts can be attributed to the synergic effect of HAuCl4 and KF precursors which are able to produce Au(0) nanoparticles, Au+ ions and zinc vacancies on the oxide surface.