Rational design of carbon-doped copper catalysts for efficient captured CO2 hydrogenation to methanol

A carbon-doped Cu/Al 2 O 3 catalyst was engineered using glucose, fructose, and sucrose as carbon sources. Controlled carbon deposition and calcination exposed acidic sites, thereby optimizing Cu dispersion, enhancing metal–support interaction (SMSI), and enriching surface hydroxyls, which collectively facilitated CO 2 hydrogenation via HCOO ∗ and ethyl acetate intermediates. Structural characterization showed that the preferential exposure of the Cu (111) crystal face further enhanced the catalytic activity. Performance tests showed that the catalyst exhibited a methanol yield of 12 % and a selectivity of 91 % in the CO 2 hydrogenation to methanol reaction, which was attributed to the improved Cu dispersion, the enriched metal Cu phase, and the presence of acidic sites. This study provides new ideas for the rational design of Cu-based catalysts and proposes a scalable green synthesis method for methanol.