Synthesis of Cobalt-Based Nanoparticles as Catalysts for Methanol Synthesis from CO2 Hydrogenation

The increasing emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere has urged the scientific community to investigate alternatives to alleviate such emissions, being that they are the principal contributor to the greenhouse gas effect. One major alternative is carbon capture and utilization (CCU) toward the production of value-added chemicals using diverse technologies. This work aims at the study of the catalytic potential of different cobalt-derived nanoparticles for methanol synthesis from carbon dioxide hydrogenation. Thanks to its abundance and cost efficacy, cobalt can serve as an economical catalyst compared to noble metal-based catalysts. In this work, we present a systematic comparison among different cobalt and cobalt oxide nanocomposites in terms of their efficiency as catalysts for carbon dioxide hydrogenation to methanol as well as how different supports, zeolites, MnO2, and CeO2, can enhance their catalytic capacity. The oxygen vacancies in the cerium oxide act as carbon dioxide adsorption and activation sites, which facilitates a higher methanol production yield.