Hydrogen Production from Methanol Steam Reforming over TiO2 and CeO2 Pillared Clay Supported Au Catalysts

Abstract: Methanol steam reforming is a promising process for the generation of hydrogen. In this study, Au catalysts supported on modified montmorillonite were prepared and their catalytic activity for methanol steam reforming was investigated at 250–500 °C. The physical and chemical properties of the as-prepared catalysts were characterized by Brunauer–Emmet–Teller method (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopic (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP), and thermogravimetrc analysis (TGA). For the catalysts examined, Au-Ti-Ce/Na-ABen exhibits the best catalytic performance with methanol conversion of 72% and H2 selectivity of 99% at 350 °C. This could be attributed to Au, Ce, and Ti species which form a solid solution and move into the interlayer space of the bentonite leading to a high surface area, large average pore volume, large average pore diameter, and small Au particle size. We considered that the synergistic effect of the crosslinking agent, the Ce species, and the Au active sites were responsible for the high activity of Au-Ti-Ce/Na-ABen catalyst for methanol steam reforming.