Indium‐based Catalysts for CO₂ Hydrogenation to Methanol: Key Aspects for Catalytic Performance

CO 2 hydrogenation utilizing sustainably produced hydrogen and CO 2 derived from industrial exhaust gas represents a pivotal technology for chemical energy storage and climate change mitigation. This work aims to identify the best combination of catalyst support, synthesis method and promotor for In 2 O 3 /ZrO 2 catalysts in a typical fixed‐bed configuration. Intense characterization using ICP‐OES, XRD, XPS, N 2 ‐physisorption, CO 2 ‐TPD, H 2 ‐TPR and SEM‐EDX provide molecular insights into the different effects caused by various synthesis methods and doping elements. Doping the most promising In 2 O 3 /ZrO 2 (M‐SG) catalyst with 0.7 wt. % NiO by wetness impregnation using an ethanol/water mixture as a solvent, an increased methanol production rate of 0.497 g MeOH ⋅ ⋅ h −1 could already be achieved at 250 °C. Hereby, the low amount of highly dispersed NiO promotes H 2 activation via hydrogen spillover, leading to sustained catalytic activity for 100 hours of time‐on‐stream.