Highly porous monolith/TiO2 supported Cu, Cu-Ni, Ru, and Pt catalysts in methanol steam reforming process for H-2 generation

A comprehensive investigation on the steam reforming of methanol (SRM) process using a microstructure monolith in conjunction with a synthesized nanostructure of TiO2 is presented. The surface of the designed monolith/TiO2 structure was coated with copper, copper/nickel, ruthenium, and platinum as the catalyst. The prepared catalysts were then characterized with FE-SEM, AFM, BET surface area measurement, FT-IR, far-infrared, temperature programmed reduction (TPR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The obtained results show that in this process, the designed Monolith/TiO2 structure has a remarkable impact on methanol conversion (99%) and carbon monoxide selectivity (5%). These results are interpreted by the high surface area and superb mass transfer in this micro/nano engineered structure. These results also indicated that the catalyst activity and dispersion are influenced by the metal-support interaction, which is more pronounced in the TiO2 supports. The ruthenium catalyst presented the highest conversion and selectivity for this process. However, the economically viable property of the Cu-Ni catalyst supposes it as an alternative for the noble ruthenium catalyst.