Low temperature conversion of syngas to ethanol in liquid phase over Fe modified CuZn catalyst: The promoting effect of Fe

Fe modified CuZn catalysts were prepared and first used for the low temperature ethanol synthesis from syngas in liquid phase. Fe greatly enhanced the CO dissociative adsorption and promoted the formation of C2+ alcohols. The role of Fe was dependent on the catalyst preparation method. The co-precipitation method enhanced the interaction between Fe and other components, which could control the CO dissociative desorption to terminate the carbon chain growth of alcohols at ethanol. The wetness impregnation method benefited the dispersion of iron species and the synthesis of methanol and butanol. As a result, the co-precipitation method prepared Fe modified CuZn catalyst with spinel structure exhibited excellent catalytic performance for the low temperature syngas hydrogenation to ethanol in liquid phase with an ethanol selectivity of 40.9%.