High temperature steam reforming of methanol over Cu/ZnO/ZrO2 catalysts

Methanol steam reforming to hydrogen and carbon dioxide is catalyzed at 400 °C over Cu/ZnO/ZrO2 (Cu content, 30 wt.%) prepared by a coprecipitation method. Conventional binary catalysts of Cu/ZnO and Cu/ZrO2 have also been prepared by the same method. The activity of Cu/ZnO/ZrO2 is stable in comparison with the binary catalysts and a commercial Cu/ZnO/Al2O3. The selectivity to carbon monoxide by-produced over Cu/ZnO/ZrO2 is fairly low. The particle sizes of Cu and ZnO for Cu/ZnO/ZrO2 are significantly smaller than those for Cu/ZnO, and the BET surface area of Cu/ZnO/ZrO2 is 2–3 times as high as that of Cu/ZnO. The Cu particle size of Cu/ZnO/ZrO2 is stable during the reaction, but growth of ZnO and ZrO2 particles is accompanied with the deactivation.