(441a) Hydrogen Generation by Formic Acid Decomposition Over Sub-Nm Gold Species

Hydrogen is a promising source of alternative energy that can be harnessed from simple organic compounds like formic acid and transformed into a practical, industry-usable form. Here we investigated the decomposition of formic acid over gold based oxides (mainly Au-ceria) by a combination of temperature-programmed techniques along with catalytic activity tests. Gold-ceria was prepared by deposition/precipitation method. HCOOH-TPD and HCOOH-TPSR were used to determine reaction onset, reaction intermediates and CO₂ selectivity. These results along catalytic steady-state performance showed that the dehydrogenation pathway was dominant over gold based catalyst. Furthermore, the addition of water or CO did not change the formic acid conversion, demonstrating that not only the absence of the dehydration pathway, but also that the water-gas shift reaction was not involved. Structural analysis and kinetic data will be presented. These findings provide insight into the decomposition of formic acid at ambient temperature.