Promotion effect of iron addition on the structure and CO2 hydrogenation performance of Attapulgite/Ce0.75Zr0.25O2 nanocomposite supported Cu-ZnO based catalyst

•Fe introduction improves the surface dispersion of metallic Cu on CZFxK/ATP-CZO catalysts.•Medium Fe addition enhances the formation of surface adsorbed and lattcie oxygen species and ZnO-CZO interfaces.•In-situ DRIFT is adopted to explore the CO2 adsorption mode and reaction intermediate species.•Methanol is synthesized over CZF0.5K/ATP-CZO catalyst with the highest CO2 conversion and space time yield.