Effect of Precipitation Temperature on the Performance of CuO/ZnO/CeO2/ZrO2 Catalyst for Methanol Steam Reforming

A series of CuO/ZnO/CeO2/ZrO2 catalyst samples for methanol steam reforming were prepared by a co-precipitation procedure, and the effect of precipitation temperature on the catalytic performance was investigated. All the samples were characterized by N-2 adsorption, X-ray diffraction, temperature-programmed reduction, and N2O titration. It is shown that the precipitation temperature remarkably influenced the catalyst structure and property. When the precipitation temperature was 60 degrees C, the catalyst exhibited the best activity with suppressed CO formation. Compared with commercial catalyst (CB-7), the CeZr as support instead of the Al2O3 can dramatically improve the conversion at low temperature, effectively inhibit the CO generation, reduce the subsequent CO removing process, which was helpful for methanol stream reforming technology using in the proton exchange membrane fuel cell applications.