High-performance Ag-CuO_x nanocomposite catalyst galvanically deposited onto a Ni-foam for gas-phase dimethyl oxalate hydrogenation to methyl glycolate

A foam-structured Ag-CuO_x nanocomposite catalyst obtained by sequential galvanic-deposition of 0.4 wt% Ag and 28 wt% Cu onto a Ni-foam, is highly active, selective and stable for the gas-phase hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate (DMO) to methyl glycolate (MG). The best catalyst 0.4-Ag-28-CuO_x/Ni-foam was capable of converting more than 96% DMO into MG with a high selectivity of more than 96% and was stable for at least 200 h at 210 °C and a WLHSV_DMO of 0.25 h^{− 1} for a feed of 13 wt% DMO dissolved in MeOH. Silver is responsible to apportion the proportion of Cu⁺ and Cu⁰ to an appropriate scale of optimal potency for converting DMO-to-MG.