Peter Zapol, Stefan Vajda, Larry A. Curtiss, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, USA, and colleagues have developed an effective low-pressure catalyst for CO₂ reduction to CH₃OH.

The researchers have investigated size-selected Cu₄ clusters supported on Al₂O₃ thin films. Due to the unique coordination environment of the Cu atoms in the size-selected sub-nanometer clusters, the Cu₄ clusters have a low activation barrier which makes the active sites superior to those of larger Cu particles.

According to the researchers, size-selected Cu₄ clusters are the most active low-pressure catalyst for catalytic CO₂ conversion to CH₃OH. Therefore, they show great potential to be used as catalysts for CH₃OH synthesis from catalytic conversion of CO₂ using alternative feed streams with low CO₂ concentration.

• Carbon Dioxide Conversion to Methanol over Size-Selected Cu₄ Clusters at Low Pressures,
  Cong Liu, Bing Yang, Eric Tyo, Soenke Seifert, Janae DeBartolo, Bernd von Issendorff, Peter Zapol, Stefan Vajda, Larry A. Curtiss,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015.
  DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b03668