CO2 hydrogenation under pressure on catalysts PtCa/C Original Research Article

CO2 hydrogenation has been performed on a PtCa/C catalyst. In a previous TPR study, this sample has shown the highest activity among different carbon supported platinum catalysts. In the present work the PtCa/C catalyst is tested in isothermal experiments (between 473 and 573 K) at pressures of 0.1, 1 and 2 MPa. The obtained results allow a comparison with other catalytic systems that reveals the high activity of this catalyst to hydrogenate CO2 and the positive effect of the PtCa combination. This catalyst, however, presents a high selectivity to CO, that does not change with increasing pressure. To complete the study of the reaction (CO2 hydrogenation) on the PtCa/C catalyst, some kinetic data, like the reaction order and the activation energy, have also been calculated. The activation energy obtained in this study is 82 kJ/mol; the reaction orders for H2 and for CO2 are very similar and they vary between 0.24 and 0.47 depending on the reaction conditions.