Electronic Modulation of a Copper/Zinc Oxide Catalyst by a Heterojunction for Selective Hydrogenation of Carbon Dioxide to Methanol

Methanol from CO2: For the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide, a marked increase in the methanol selectivity was observed when the reaction was catalyzed by Cu/rod-shaped ZnO/CdSe with heterojunction structure. Diffusion reflectance, photoluminescence, and ESR spectroscopies clearly indicated an increase in the electron density because of the incorporation of CdSe in the core–shell morphology of Cu/rod-shaped ZnO (see picture).