Cu(Zn)/SiO2 based catalysts prepared by sol-gel method. Influence of copper cluster size in the hydrogen production by means of thermal decomposition and partial oxidation of methanol

ESTHER M. FIXMAN, M. CRISTINA ABELLO, OSVALDO F. GORRIZ, LUIS A. ARRÚA

Francia

Congreso; 13 th International Congress on Catalysis; 2004

In the past years the interest in the study of alcohols transformations as alternative roads of hydrogen production, has increased. Several catalysts containing copper have demonstrated to be active for methanol conversion with a high selectivity to hydrogen. In this work, the preparation, characterization and evaluation in the hydrogen production from methanol on Cu/SiO2 and Cu-Zn/SiO2 catalysts with and without addition of a non-surfactant template are presented. The catalysts were characterised by specific surface area (SgBET and SgDR), XRD, TPR and N2O dissociative chemisorption. Catalytic tests were carried out in absence (TDM) and the presence of oxygen (POM). At 230°C, all the catalysts showed to be active in both reactions. Under the explored experimental conditions POM seems to be a better option than TDM to produce hydrogen from methanol mainly accounting for product distribution. The catalyst with very small copper cluster size (dvs : 12 Å) showed the best performance in POM, with XMe : 50%, YH2 : 55% and SH2 : 99%.