Metal-Organic Framework-Derived Cu NWs@ZrO as a Highly Selective Catalyst for Methanol Synthesis from CO Hydrogenation.

CO hydrogenation is one of the key technologies for carbon recycling and greenhouse effect mitigation. Cu-based catalysts have been widely used in the hydrogenation of CO to methanol. However, the low catalytic efficiency and instability of Cu-based catalysts limit their industrial application. Herein, a Zr-based metal-organic framework was used to synthesize a Cu NWs@ZrO catalyst with a Cu-ZrO interface. The Cu NWs@ZrO catalyst shows high activity with promising selectivity and excellent stability for the synthesis of methanol from CO hydrogenation. Density functional theory calculations and diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed that the CO hydrogenation on Cu NWs@ZrO followed the HCOO* pathway, and the Cu-ZrO interface made a significant contribution to the key intermediate step of CO to HCOO* and accelerated the CO hydrogenation.