Disclosing Ce-In synergy and VO dynamic by XAS/XRD study on MOF-derived In2O3/CeZrOx catalyst for CO2-to-CH3OH conversion

In the race towards CO2 emission reduction, its conversion to methanol is of great interest due to the latter market potential as valuable chemical. Oxide-supported metal catalysts have been widely applied in methanol synthesis and extensively studied for decades. To improve control over the dispersion of catalytic active sites, we have developed a strategy involving thermal decomposition of metal-supported Ce/Zr-based Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) to prepare In2O3 catalyst supported on different CeO2-ZrO2 solid solutions. We here propose to combine quasi-simultaneous XAS/PXRD measurements under reaction relevant conditions (10 bar of CO2:H2 (1:3), 573K) at BM23 to disclose the activation/deactivation mechanisms related to In and Ce reduction and particles agglomeration. Moreover, to track active and transient active species kinetics, we will apply Modulated Excitation of reactants on isolated XAS and PXRD experiments which we successfully already employed previously.