Efficient Hydrogenation of CO 2 to Methanol over Supported Subnanometer Gold Catalysts at Low Temperature

Direct hydrogenation of CO 2 to methanol under milder conditions is of great importance. The catalytic performances of Au particles with different sizes on various supports for this reaction were studied. It was demonstrated that catalytic properties of the catalysts depended both on size of Au particles and the composition of the supports. Au/ZrO 2 with subnanometer Au particles (1.6 nm) had unprecedented high catalytic activity and excellent selectivity for the reaction, and methanol could be obtained even at 140 °C, which is obviously lower than those reported before. The outstanding performance of the Au/ZrO 2 with subnanometer Au particles resulted from both the very small size of the Au particles and appropriate coupling between the Au particles and the support.