Direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) from methanol and carbon dioxide under pressure and UV irradiation

Abstract

A nano-scale photo-catalyst of supported copper modified (Ni, Mo, O) semiconductor complex was synthesized and its photo-catalytic activity was investigated on the direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate from CO2 and CH3OH. The technologies of temperature programmed reduction (TPR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Ultra-violet visible drift reflection spectra (UV-vis DRS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to fully characterize the photo-catalyst. The pressure dependency of methanol conversion was studied at 120°C under a varying pressure from 1 to 18 atmospheres. The experimental results demonstrated that the catalytic activity was enhanced by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation when compared with the pure thermal reaction under the same reaction conditions. Both high methanol conversion of higher than 6.47% and DMC selectivity of 83.9% were afforded under the optimized catalyzed pressure of 6 atmospheres.