Steam reforming of methanol over Cu/CeO2/ZrO2 catalysts

Steam reforming of methanol was carried out over CuO/CeO2-based catalysts. The optimum amount of CuO in CuO/CeO2 was 80 wt.%. The addition of ZrO2 had an accelerating effect; the best weight ratio of CuO/CeO2/ZrO, was 8/1/1. Although CuO/CeO2 gradually lost its activity during the reaction, no deactivation was observed for CuO/ZrO2 or CuO/CeO2/ZrO2 during the reaction for 5 It. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that copper was present in the form of CuO during the reaction when combined with ZrO2, mainly as Cu metal with CeO2, and as a mixture of Cu metal plus trace amount of Cu2O with CeO2/ZrO2. TPR and XANES analyses also showed that all of Cu species were stabilized as Cu2O in the presence of ZrO2. The synergistic effect of ZrO2 was discussed. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.