Hydrogen production from methanol decomposition using Cu-Al spinel catalysts.

Abstract: The development of inexpensive and effective catalysts that can produce hydrogen from methanol is attractive for the implementation of clean energy technologies. Cu-Al oxides, prepared by different methods, were tested for hydrogen production from methanol decomposition. Catalysts with spinel CuAl 2 O 4 (copper aluminate) structure as compared with non-spinel Cu-Al oxides, are more stable, and exhibit higher catalytic activity despite of their low surface area. Spinel CuAl 2 O 4 synthesized by citrate process show better performance towards methanol decomposition than that obtained by co-precipitation process. The selectivity to H 2 +CO can be improved by the impregnation of potassium in spinel CuAl 2 O 4 . However, the direct addition of potassium during the citrate process strongly inhibited the formation of CuAl 2 O 4 structure, thus leading to a low catalytic activity. CuAl 2 O 4 was found to be a reservoir of Cu, slowly releasing Cu during the catalysis of methanol decomposition and preventing Cu from quick sintering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]