Hydrogen Production From Methanol and Formic Acid Reactions Over Atomically-Dispersed Precious Metal (Au and Pt) Catalysts

Steam reforming of methanol (SRM), which produces the highest amount of hydrogen among all hydrogen-producing reactions using methanol as reactant, is one of the significant catalytic processes to produce hydrogen in different scales [1]. But methanol is only one option among possible liquid fuel carriers for a hydrogen-based fuel cell. As is the case with introducing any novel industrial application in competitive markets, other possible alternatives, such as formic acid, must be fully considered [2]. From the fundamental viewpoint, it is interesting to compare these two liquids in terms of the pathways involved and the selectivity of different catalysts to hydrogen. Moreover, if precious metals are to be used as catalysts, it is highly desirable to explore efficient approaches that decrease the amount of precious metals used while maintaining high activity at close-to- ambient temperatures for electrocatalytic applications. Here we investigated the potential of two candidate catalysts: dispersed sub-nm gold on ceria and sodium-promoted platinum on silica for catalytic hydrogen production through steam reforming of methanol and decomposition of formic acid reactions[3,4,5].

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4. Yi, N., Si, R., Saltsburg, H., Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, M. Energy Environ. Sci. 3, 831 (2010).

5. Yi, N., Saltsburg, H., Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, M. ChemSusChem 6, 816 (2013).