Hydrogen production from oxidative steam reforming of methanol over Au/CeO2-ZrO2 catalysts

Abstract

Hydrogen production by oxidative steam reforming of methanol (OSRM) was investigated over Au/CeO₂-ZrO₂ catalysts prepared by a deposition-precipitation (DP) technique. Pure supports (CeO₂ and ZrO₂) and mixed supports (CeO₂-ZrO₂) were prepared by precipitation and co-precipitation techniques, respectively. A series of Au supported on CeO₂-ZrO₂ with various atomic ratios of Ce/(Ce+Zr) (0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1) were studied. The activity was investigated in the range of 200 ºC to 400 ºC under atmospheric pressure. The 3 wt%Au/Ce₀̣ ₇₅Zr₀̣ ₂₅O₂ calcined at 400 ºC exhibited the highest catalytic activity with 91.28% methanol conversion and 61.50% hydrogen yield at an O₂/H₂O/CH₃OH molar ratio of 0.6/2/1. In addition, it was observed that the 3 wt%Au/Ce₀̣ ₇₅Zr₀̣ ₂₅O₂ catalyst showed stable activities for OSRM at 350 ºC for 12 hours.