Preparation of carbon-containing copper-based catalysts and its performance in selective hydrogenation of acetylene

The prepared precursors and catalysts were characterized by XRD, XPS, TEM, GC-MS and N2 physisorption-desorption. The catalysts were evaluated in the selective hydrogenation of acetylene.

The results showed that in the strongly alkaline environment provided by NaOH, Cu²⁺ is reduced by the introduced acetylene gas to form Cu⁺, which then reacts with acetylene to generate Cu₂C₂. Under the coexistence of Cu²⁺ and alkaline conditions, Cu₂C₂ undergoes the Glaser coupling reaction to form polyynic copper. The precursor containing copper acetylide and polyynic copper is then reduced by H₂ to obtain a copper-based catalyst containing CuₓC-Cu.