Chalmers, Adele T., Hu, Zonggao, Dummer, Nicholas F.  ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0946-6304, Aggett, Kieran J., Morgan, David J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6571-5731, Bowker, Michael ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5075-1089, Hutchings, Graham J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8885-1560 and Stowers, Kara J.
2026.
Alumina supported Cu nanoparticles derived from MOF crystallites for CO2 hydrogenation.
Catalysis Science & Technology
10.1039/d5cy01235j
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Abstract
A carbon economy hinges on sustainable treatment and usage of greenhouse gases. Copper-based catalysts are an efficient way to make use of one of the most common greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide. In this work, a metal–organic framework decomposition method was used to synthesize a copper catalyst that was active and reproducible for methanol production via CO2 hydrogenation. The properties of the as-prepared and decomposed MOF catalysts were analyzed using a wide range of characterization techniques (e.g. SEM, TEM, ICP-MS, XRD, N2 adsorption, TGA, XPS, H2-TPR) to rationalize the layer-by-layer synthetic approach to form the subsequent supported Cu nanoparticles. The catalytic performance of the MOF derived catalyst was compared to that of a sol-immobilization prepared Cu/Al2O3 catalyst in a fixed-bed continuous flow reactor for CO2 hydrogenation. The MOF derived catalyst formed from ten iterative layers performed similarly to the sol-immobilization prepared catalyst but displayed increased methanol productivity at all reaction temperatures tested. This work indicates that synthesis of copper-based catalysts through MOF-templating is a viable method that would be impactful for future incorporation of secondary metals such as Zn, Ce, and/or Al that are typical additions for catalytic conversion of CO2 to methanol.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Date Type: | Published Online |
| Status: | In Press |
| Schools: | Schools > Chemistry Research Institutes & Centres > Cardiff Catalysis Institute (CCI) |
| Publisher: | Royal Society of Chemistry |
| ISSN: | 2044-4753 |
| Date of Acceptance: | 14 January 2026 |
| Last Modified: | 09 Feb 2026 12:00 |
| URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/184531 |
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