Titanosilicate zeolite supported Pt nanoparticles with electronic metal-support interactions for efficient methanol steam reforming

In situ release of hydrogen from liquid organic hydrogen carriers-such as methanol by steam reforming, offers a feasible way to potentially solve the problem of hydrogen storage and transport. Here we report that the titanosilicalite-1 (TS-1) zeolite support efficiently accelerates the Pt catalyzed methanol steam reforming (MSR), giving the hydrogen productivity at 639.7 mol(H2) mol(Pt)(-1) h(-1) at 250 degrees C, which steadily outperforms the Pt nanoparticles supported on other carriers, including ZSM-5 zeolite, amorphous SiO2, and TiO2 anatase. Further studies reveal that the electronic metal-support interactions (EMSIs) between Pt and TS-1 zeolite occurs, which modifies Pt nanoparticles surface charge state to accelerate the reaction. More importantly, the interactions could stabilize the Pt nanoparticles, achieving sinter-resistant Pt/TS-1 catalyst in the continuous MSR tests. This finding indicates the important role of heteroatoms in the zeolite framework for supported metal nanoparticles, which open a new way to guide the design of highly efficient heterogeneous catalysts in the future.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates that utilizing titanosilicalite-1 (TS-1) zeolite as a support can efficiently accelerate methanol steam reforming reaction, increase hydrogen productivity, and stabilize Pt nanoparticles by modifying surface charge state, preventing sintering.