Methanol synthesis: Insights into the structure of an enigmatic catalyst

Methanol is one of the most important basic chemicals used, for example, to produce plastics or building materials. To render the production process even more efficient, it would be helpful to know more about the copper/zinc oxide/aluminum oxide catalyst deployed in methanol production. To date, however, it hasn't been possible to analyze the structure of its surface under reaction conditions. A team from Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion (MPI CEC) has now succeeded in gaining insights into the structure of its active site. The researchers describe their findings in the journal Nature Communications.