Highly efficient Cu/anatase TiO2 {001}-nanosheets catalysts for methanol synthesis from CO2

Anatase TiO 2 nanosheets (-ns-) with dominant exposed {001} facets were used as support to load copper, and the synthesized Cu/TiO 2 -ns catalysts were evaluated for CO 2 hydrogenation to methanol. Under the reaction conditions, P  = 3.0 MPa, T  = 260 °C, V (N 2 ): V (H 2 ): V (CO 2 ) = 8:69:23 and gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) = 3600 mL g −1  h −1 , the methanol yield reached an appealing high value, 5.6%. Copper-loading amount, calcination temperature and reduction atmosphere have been investigated in this work, which significantly influence the particle sizes of copper and/or the defect concentration in TiO 2 , then leading to different catalytic performance. Characterizations of XRD, EPR, CO 2 -TPD and FTIR demonstrate that higher specific surface area of Cu is good for the hydrogenation of CO 2 and adequate amount of Ti 3+ plays important roles in CO 2 activation. Both of them facilitate high turnover frequency (TOF) of methanol formation.