Deactivation behaviour of intermetallic Ga‐Ni catalyst in CO2 hydrogenation to methanol

The chemical conversion of greenhouse gas CO2 to environmentally benign compounds, especially alternative fuels like methanol, is an inevitable solution to the global warming problem. The intermetallic catalysts exhibit superior catalytic activity compared to the monometallic ones but suffer from loss of activity during the reaction. Herein, we report the influence of the preparation method on the deactivation behaviour of Ga3Ni5 catalyst in CO2 hydrogenation to methanol. The Ga3Ni5 catalyst was prepared through three different methods. The spent catalysts from the reactor were characterized by X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy‐energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (TEM‐EDX), Brunaue‐Emmett‐Teller (BET), H2‐pulse chemisorption, and Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) technique to evaluate the cause and nature of deactivation. After 250 hr of CO2 hydrogenation, all catalysts had lost about 50% of their initial activity due to the erosion of active sites. The nanoparticle dispersion was found to increase in the order Ga3Ni5‐CE