(197a) Catalytic Steam Reforming of Lower Alcohols to Hydrogen

Steam reforming of lower alcohols offers an attractive route for hydrogen production.  Our earlier work showed transition-metal-based catalysts to have high activity and selectivity for lower alcohol reforming.  While the overall reaction appears to be simple if it is conducted under thermodynamically-controlled conditions, under the kinetically-controlled regime, the reactions are seen to be governed by a complex network of side and intermediate reaction steps.   In all of these reactions, the catalyst performance is closely linked to many synthesis parameters.  Among these parameters, the nature of the support and its interaction with the active metal emerges as one that impacts the catalyst performance significantly.  The properties of the support can affect the surface acidity, oxygen mobility, dispersion, and in turn, stability of the catalysts.   The morphology of the support also impacts catalytic performance, including its reducibility, activity and selectivity.

Results from different phases of our studies on steam reforming reactions on transition metal catalysts will be highlighted.   Mechanistic studies as well as surface and bulk characterization experiments, including those that involve in-situ and operando techniques, such as diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy will be presented.