Conversion of carbon dioxide along with methanol to dimethyl carbonate over ceria catalyst

Utilization of carbon-do-oxide (CO2) to produce alternative chemicals such as dimethyl carbonate (DMC) is one of the high priority areas of research. In this paper, ceria based catalyst were synthesized, characterized and used for DMC synthesis from CO2 and methanol. Prepared catalyst was characterized by various techniques such as X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), temperature programmed desorption (TPD) by NH3 and CO2, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and N2 adsorption–desorption. The catalytic activities were correlated with the basic and acidic properties of ceria catalyst for the synthesis of DMC in a batch reactor. The larger acidic and basic sites facilitated the DMC formation due to activation of methanol to methoxyl species and further reaction with CO2. Molecular sieve has been used as dehydrating agent to remove water, shift the thermodynamic equilibrium and facilitate higher DMC formation. Ceria catalyst showed DMC yield of 2.046 mmol DMC/g.cat at reaction temperature of 120 °C, pressure 150 bar and reaction time of 4 h.