Influence of preparation on structural and catalytic properties of palladium promoted copper/zirconia catalysts

The influence of preparation variables on the structural and catalytic properties of palladium promoted copper/zirconia catalysts was studied for methanol synthesis from CO/H₂. The addition of 0.2 wt % palladium into copper/zirconia system led to a slight change in BET surface area. Pd promotion in methanol production varied greatly with pretreatment method employed. Zirconia supported copper catalysts, either alone or combined with palladium promoter, exhibited highly active properties for methanol synthesis. The catalytic properties of samples did not correlate with measured BET surface area. Moreover, there was no apparent correlation of the activity rise with the changes in the amount of exposed copper of ternary catalysts, especially, PCZ-d catalyst.