Does Water Play a Crucial Role in the Growth of ZnO Nanoclusters in ZnO/Cu Catalyst?

The catalytically active configuration of ZnO/Cu in the commercial ZnO/Cu/Al2O3 catalyst for methanol synthesis from CO2 is still not clear. In this study, we employ density functional theory based methods to shed light on the structure and stoichiometry of ZnO clusters both free in the gas phase and also deposited on the Cu(111) surface under methanol synthesis conditions. Specifically, we investigate the structural evolution of ZnO clusters in the presence of hydrogen and water. We find that the stability of ZnO clusters increases with the concentration of water until the ratio of Zn and OH in the clusters reaches 1:2, with a morphological transition from planar to 3D configurations for clusters containing more than 4 Zn atoms. These clusters exhibit weak interaction with CO2, and water is predicted to block the active center. The Cu(111) surface plays an important role in enhancing the adsorption of CO2 on the ZnO/Cu(111) systems. We infer that ZnO nanostructures covered with OH species may be the morphology of the ZnO during the methanol synthesis from the hydrogenation of CO2 on the industrial catalyst.