11C-radiolabeling study of methanol decomposition on copper oxide modified mesoporous SBA-15 silica

11C-radiolabeling technique is applied to investigate methanol decomposition on copper oxide modified SBA-15. Nitrogen physisorption, XRD, FTIR, UV–vis and TPR techniques are used for catalyst characterization. Selective adsorption coverage of the catalytic active sites with 11C- and 12C-methanol molecules is carried out and the products of their conversion are followed. The mechanism of methyl formate, methylal and CO2 formation from methanol is discussed.