PNNL

Abstract

Methanol synthesis from syngas (CO/CO2/H2) hydrogenation on the perfect Zn–terminated polar ZnO(0001) surface have been investigated using periodic density functional theory calculations. Our results show that direct CO2 hydrogenation to methanol on the perfect ZnO(0001) surface is unlikely because in the presence of surface atomic H and O the highly stable formate (HCOO) and carbonate (CO3) readily produced from CO2 with low barriers 0.11 and 0.09 eV will eventually accumulate and block the active sites of the ZnO(0001) surface. In contrast, methanol synthesis from CO hydrogenation is thermodynamically and kinetically feasible on the perfect ZnO(0001) surface. CO can be consecutively hydrogenated into formyl (HCO), formaldehyde (H2CO), methoxy (H3CO) intermediates, leading to the final formation of methanol (H3COH). The reaction route via hydroxymethyl (H2COH) intermediate, a previously proposed species on the defected O–terminated ZnO( ) surface, is kinetically inhibited on the perfect ZnO(0001) surface. The rate-determining step in the consecutive CO hydrogenation route is the hydrogenation of H3CO to H3COH. We also note that this last hydrogenation step is pronouncedly facilitated in the presence of water by lowering the activation barrier from 1.02 to 0.55 eV. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences, Biosciences and Geosciences, and performed at EMSL, a national scientific user facility sponsored by the Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Computational resources were provided at EMSL and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. J. Li and Y.-F. Zhao were also financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 20933003 and 91026003) and the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2011CB932400). Y.-F. Zhao acknowledges the fellowship from PNNL.