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Renewable H 2 from Glycerol Steam Reforming: Effect of La 2 O 3 and CeO 2 Addition to Pt/Al 2 O 3 catalysts.
Author(s) -
Montini Tiziano,
Singh Rakesh,
Das Piyali,
Lorenzut Barbara,
Bertero Nicolás,
Riello Pietro,
Benedetti Alvise,
Giambastiani Giuliano,
Bianchini Claudio,
Zinoviev Sergey,
Miertus Stanislav,
Fornasiero Paolo
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.200900243
Subject(s) - catalysis , steam reforming , glycerol , syngas , hydrogen production , chemical engineering , biodiesel production , coke , hydrogen , sintering , materials science , biodiesel , platinum , chemistry , catalytic reforming , metallurgy , organic chemistry , engineering
Glycerol is the main byproduct of biodiesel production and its increased production volume derives from the increasing demand for biofuels. The conversion of glycerol to hydrogen‐rich mixtures presents an attractive route towards sustainable biodiesel production. Here we explored the use of Pt/Al 2 O 3 ‐based catalysts for the catalytic steam reforming of glycerol, evidencing the influence of La 2 O 3 and CeO 2 doping on the catalyst activity and selectivity. The addition of the latter metal oxides to a Pt/Al 2 O 3 catalyst is found to significantly improve the glycerol steam reforming, with high H 2 and CO 2 selectivities. A good catalytic stability is achieved for the Pt/La 2 O 3 /Al 2 O 3 system working at 350 °C, while the Pt/CeO 2 /Al 2 O 3 catalyst sharply deactivates after 20 h under similar conditions. Studies carried out on fresh and exhausted catalysts reveal that both systems maintain high surface areas and high Pt dispersions. Therefore, the observed catalyst deactivation can be attributed to coke deposition on the active sites throughout the catalytic process and only marginally to Pt nanoparticle sintering. This work suggests that an appropriate support composition is mandatory for preparing high‐performance Pt‐based catalysts for the sustainable conversion of glycerol into syngas.