Water gas shift reaction over Cu catalyst supported by mixed oxide materials for fuel cell application

The water gas shift activities of Cu on ceria and Gd doped ceria have been studied for the further enhancement of hydrogen purity [1] after the steam reforming of ethanol. The catalytic properties of commercial catalysts were also studied to compare with the as-prepared catalysts. Copper-containing cerium oxide materials are shown in this work to be suitable for the high temperature. Copper-ceria is a stable high-temperature shift catalyst, unlike iron-chrome catalysts that deactivate severely in CO2-rich gases. We found that 5%Cu/10%GDC(D) has much higher activity than other copper ceria based catalysts. The finely dispersed CuO species is favorable to the higher activity, which explained the activity enhancement of this catalyst. The kinetics of the WGS reaction over Cu catalysts supported by mixed oxide materials were measured in the temperature range 200-400 °C. An independence of the CO conversion rate on CO2 and H2 was found.