Low Temperature Hydrogen Production by Ethanol Steam Reforming over Supported Metal Catalysts in an Electric Field

The use of catalytic steam reforming for direct hydrogen production from biomass-derived ethanol is attracting much attention. Herein, we report a novel electrocatalytic reaction system, catalytic reaction in an electric field, for low-temperature catalytic ethanol steam reforming using low-grade waste heat. Application of an electric field to Pt/CeO2 catalyst enables the reaction to proceed even at 423 K, at which a conventional catalytic reaction only slightly proceeded. Results of activity tests conducted using isotopes indicate that the electric field contributed to activation of the adsorbed OHx species. In-situ DRIFTS measurements revealed that an electric field promoted the formation of reactive adsorbed intermediate acetate species and showed that the steam reforming reaction of the formed acetate species proceeded even at low temperatures. Results show that ethanol steam reforming proceeded efficiently in the electric field at low temperatures. In this electrocatalytic reaction system, hydrogen was produced efficiently from ethanol using less electricity, even at low temperature.