Comment on "Active sites for CO2 hydrogenation to methanol on Cu/ZnO catalysts"

Abstract

Kattel et al. (Reports, 24 March 2017, p. 1296) report that a zinc on copper (Zn/Cu) surface undergoes oxidation to zinc oxide/copper (ZnO/Cu) during carbon dioxide (CO2) hydrogenation to methanol and conclude that the Cu-ZnO interface is the active site for methanol synthesis. Similar experiments conducted two decades ago by Fujitani and Nakamura et al. demonstrated that Zn is attached to formate rather than being fully oxidized.