Application of cobalt ferrite nano-catalysts for methanol synthesis by CO₂ hydrogenation: Deciphering the role of metals cations distribution

Wet chemical method was employed for the synthesis of cobalt ferrite nano-catalysts. To investigate the effect of calcination temperature, the synthesized nano-catalysts were annealed at different temperature. Different analytical techniques were employed to investigate the physicochemical profiles of synthesized cobalt ferrite nano-catalysts. X-ray diffraction studies revealed the crystalline nature of the nano-catalysts. Nitrogen adsorption desorption technique showed that BET surface area was adversely affected by the increasing annealing temperature. Field emission scanning electron spectroscopy (FESEM) revealed nano-sized morphology of the synthesized cobalt ferrite nano-catalysts. Both XRD and XPS studies revealed the distribution of Co and Fe cations with respect to the applied calcinations temperature. Slurry batch reactor was used for the activity studies of the cobalt ferrite nano-catalysts towards CO₂ hydrogenation to methanol. The activity studies revealed 750 °C as best calcination temperature for the cobalt ferrite nano-catalysts. Structure activity studies exhibited the correlation between the methanol synthesis rate and the distribution of cations at octahedral sites. Comparative investigations of the current studied catalysts revealed efficient methanol synthesis rate for the title reaction with the literature.