The hydrogenation of CO2 into more useful compounds such as methanol and other hydrocarbons lessens human atmospheric output while creating usable, transportable fuel. Low pressure catalysts to assist this reaction will decrease the time and energy for conversion compared to the current high-pressure copper industrial catalysts. We are finding trends in a new hybrid MnOx nanoparticle supported in mesoporous Co3O4 catalyst that increase selectivity for methanol and turnover frequency greater than its lone components. By use of colloidal chemistry, size controlled MnOx nanoparticles and mesoporous Co3O4 were synthesized. MnOx was supported via impregnation methods in the mesoporous m-Co3O4. By varying the temperature, pressure and loading of MnOx onto m-Co3O4, there are clear changes in activity and selectivity. These catalysts are run under reaction conditions of H2: CO2 = 2:1 at high pressure (5 bar) and low pressure (1 bar) with varied temperatures from 2100C -290 0C. The heightened effectiveness of this hybrid catalyst versus its two components brings up the question of the nature of the interface between the MnO and m-Co3O4 surfaces. Current work is focused in optimizing the ratio of MnOx:m-Co3O4 to both find greatest turnover/ selectivity and form preliminary hypotheses on surface kinetic information.

Reaction study of MnOX nanoparticles on Co3O4: New route to low pressure CO2 conversion

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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