Mechanistic Study of Carbon Dioxide Hydrogenation over Pd/ZnO‐Based Catalysts: The Role of Palladium–Zinc Alloy in Selective Methanol Synthesis

Pd/ZnO catalysts show good activity and high selectivity to methanol during catalytic CO(2) hydrogenation. The Pd‐Zn alloy phase has usually been considered as the active phase, though mechanistic studies under operando conditions have not been conducted to verify this. Here, we report a mechanistic study under realistic conditions of methanol synthesis, using in situ and operando X‐ray absorption spectroscopy, X‐ray powder diffraction, and time‐resolved isotope labeling experiments coupled with FTIR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Pd‐Zn alloy‐based catalysts, prepared through reduction of a heterobimetallic Pd(II)Zn(II) acetate bridge complex, and which do not contain zinc oxide or any PdZn/ZnO interface, produce mostly CO. The Pd‐Zn phase is associated with the formation of CO, and does not provide the active sites required to produce methanol from the direct hydrogenation of carbon dioxide. The presence of a ZnO phase, in contact with a Pd‐Zn phase, is essential for efficient methanol production.