Facile Structure Tuning of a Methanol‐Synthesis Catalyst towards the Direct Synthesis of Dimethyl Ether from Syngas

Abstract

Abstract Heterogeneous catalysts of bifunctionality offer improved process efficiency and enhanced product yield in multistep chemical transformations conducted in a consecutive manner. However, this has seldom been realized in coprecipitated catalysts owing to the complexity of the synthesis. By adjusting the synthesis protocol of an industrial methanol‐synthesis catalyst as a model system, herein we demonstrate the bifunctional effect of Al 2 O 3 /Cu/ZnO catalysts to enable the direct production of dimethyl ether from synthesis gas with yields that are 2–3‐fold higher than those obtained with their conventional counterparts, with a greater number of accessible Cu surface atoms and more Al 2 O 3 acid sites existing at the external particle surface. This is achieved by preparing the fully developed Cu,Zn precursor of a specific structure with surface‐decorated Al species. Our approach paves the way towards the rational design of multicomponent precipitated catalysts with tunable bifunctionality for practical cascade reactions.