Heat treatment of CuZnAl catalyst under high pressure to synthesize higher alcohols

This paper described an effective synthetic route for the production of higher alcohols via syngas using CuZnAl catalysts prepared by the complete liquid-phase method under different heat treatment pressure. The catalyst heat treated under 1.0 MPa exhibited excellent catalytic performance with CO conversion of 38.1% and higher alcohols mass fraction in total alcohols of 65.9%. Compared with the catalyst that was heat treated under atmospheric pressure, the catalysts heat treated under high pressure formed a complex spinel structure, and the amount of Cu+ species decreased, but the pore volume and pore size became larger. A correlation between the catalytic activity and the amount of Cu+ species illustrated that an appropriate amount of Cu+ species was beneficial to higher alcohols formation. Moreover, a small proportion of weak acid in total acid amount, the large pore volume and pore size of the catalyst were also conductive to higher alcohols synthesis.