Achievement of hydrogen production from autothermal steam reforming of methanol over Cu-loaded mesoporous CeO2 and Cu-loaded mesoporous CeO2-ZrO2 catalysts

Hydrogen production by oxidative steam reforming of methanol (OSRM) or autothermal steam reforming of methanol (ASRM) was investigated over Cu-loaded mesoporous CeO2 and Cu-loaded mesoporous CeO2-ZrO2 catalysts, synthesized via a nanocasting process using MCM-48 as a hard template, followed by a deposition-precipitation technique. Various Cu contents were loaded on the mesoporous CeO2 and CeO2-ZrO2 supports. The fresh and spent catalysts were characterized by N-2 adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffraction, temperature-programmed oxidation, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The ASRM results showed that 9 wt% Cu loading onto mesoporous CeO2 and CeO2-ZrO2 provided the best catalytic performance with 100% methanol conversion and 60% H-2 yield at 350 degrees and 300 degrees C, respectively. Furthermore, the time-on-stream stability testing of the 9 wt % Cu loading catalyst was at 168 h, and the CO selectivity of these two catalysts indicated that the addition of ZrO2 into the catalyst reduced the CO selectivity during the ASRM process. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.