New black indium oxide—tandem photothermal CO(2)-H(2) methanol selective catalyst

It has long been known that the thermal catalyst Cu/ZnO/Al(2)O(3)(CZA) can enable remarkable catalytic performance towards CO(2) hydrogenation for the reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) and methanol synthesis reactions. However, owing to the direct competition between these reactions, high pressure and high hydrogen concentration (≥75%) are required to shift the thermodynamic equilibrium towards methanol synthesis. Herein, a new black indium oxide with photothermal catalytic activity is successfully prepared, and it facilitates a tandem synthesis of methanol at a low hydrogen concentration (50%) and ambient pressure by directly using by-product CO as feedstock. The methanol selectivities achieve 33.24% and 49.23% at low and high hydrogen concentrations, respectively.