Temperature Effects on the Synthesis of Ethanol over Metal-Oxide Supported Nanoparticles

While Higher Alcohol Synthesis (HAS) from syngas (CO/H2) has been extensively studied, the use of CO2 as the carbon feedstock is significantly less explored due to lower performance. Notably, this approach could more directly reduce anthropogenic CO2 emissions (with green/blue H2), making HAS from CO2 highly desirable. However, effective catalysts for this reaction are still rare and poorly understood. Notably, Rh-based catalysts display so far some of the best selectivities for ethanol, when doped with an alkali metal (Li). More recent work from our group has also shown that the reaction temperature and specific thermal retreatment have a substantial impact on the reactivity and ethanol selectivity of M1M2@SiO2 catalysts. We aim to investigate the origin of these temperature dependencies, by studying tailored metal-oxide-supported, transition metal-based catalysts, doped with various promoters thanks to surface organometallic chemistry (SOMC).