(118g) Synthesis and Characterization of CuO/ZnO-Al2O3 Catalyst Washcoats with CeO2 Sols Onto a Micro-Channel Reactor for Steam Reforming of Methanol

Porous alumina support CuO/ZnO mixed with CeO₂ sol washcoat catalysts have been characterized for autothermal reforming of methanol in the present study. Experimentally, XRD patterns of as-synthesized washcoat catalysts coated with increasing content of CeO₂ sols onto the surface of micro-reactor indicated that the Cu and Zn species were oxidized to CuO and ZnO, respectively. The intensities of Cu content from XRD and XPS data indicate that Al₂O₃ assign with Cu(0) to from CuAl₂O₄. The EXAFS data reveals that the Cu species have a Cu-O bonding with a bond distance of 2.13 Å and a coordination number of 4.82. The copper oxides may be interacted with the Cu(II) species in ceria identified using EPR spectroscopy. Moreover, the SRM performance tests were carried out at 483–573 K with the same weight of coated catalysts packed in the micro-reactor. A hydrogen production rate of 2.16 L h^-1 is obtained and the corresponding methanol conversion is 100% at 543 K using the CuO/ZnO with CeO₂ sols washcoat catalysts. In addition, this work also showed that the feasibility of as-synthesized catalysts and the effects of CeO₂ binders for hydrogen production. With this approach, the feasible potential for production of high purity hydrogen can be achieved and a final processing to make it suitable for an integrated proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system.