Small amount of cupric silicate was incorporated into copper-based catalyst to produce a series of modified ternary Cu-Zn-Al catalysts for methanol synthesis from synthesis gas. The test results showed that the Cu-based catalyst modified with 1% CuSiO3 exhibits the highest activity. The cupric silicate-modified Cu-based catalysts exhibit lower bulk density, higher specific surface area and more monovalent copper species, which were confirmed to be responsible for excellent catalytic performance of the catalysts for the reaction. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.