Synthesis of a Cu/Zn-BTC@LTA derivatived Cu–ZnO@LTA membrane reactor for CO₂ hydrogenation

Methanol (MeOH) formation from CO₂ hydrogenation has attracted increasing interest for CO₂ reduction and utilization. However, CO₂ conversion to methanol production is greatly blocked because of the thermodynamical restriction and catalyst inactivation caused by by-product water. In this work, we develop a Cu/Zn-BTC@LTA derivatived Cu–ZnO@LTA catalytic membrane reactor (CMR) for methanol production via CO₂ hydrogenation. Through the successive separation of the by-product steam from the reactor by using a water-selective LTA membrane, the thermodynamic restriction is broken to promote CO₂ transformation and methanol production. At 533 K and 3.00 MPa, a high CO₂ conversion (49.1%) as well as methanol selectivity (90.2%) is obtained in the catalytic membrane reactor, which are much higher than the corresponding CO₂ conversion (26.2%) and methanol selectivity (50.6%) obtained in the catalytic fixed bed reactor (CFBR). Further, catalyst deactivation induced by water can be effectively repressed in the catalytic membrane reactor, which is helpful to keep a high stability of the catalyst.