Steam reforming of ethanol over Ni/Ce0.7Pr0.3O2 catalyst

NiO/Ce0.7Pr0.3O2 catalysts were prepared by co-precipitation method and used for steam reforming of ethanol to produce hydrogen. The influence of nickel content and the doping of Pr on the catalytic performance were investigated. The catalysts were characterized by using temperature programmed reduction (TPR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermal analysis techniques. 15 wt.%NiO/Ce0.7Pr0.3O2 catalyst was highly active and selective for steam reforming of ethanol to produce hydrogen. With the doping of Pr, the anti-carbon deposition property of the catalyst and the anti-sintering stability of metal nickel were effectively improved. The improvement of the anti-carbon deposition is attributed to generation of oxygen vacancies resulted from the Pr doping; while the improvement of anti sintering is ascribed to the intensified interaction between the nickel species and the support which is owing to the Pr-doping resulted incorporation of some nickel ions into ceria lattice.