Steam reforming of ethanol on zinc containing catalysts with spinel structure

• Zn-spinel oxides are catalytically active in the SRE process.
• The zinc cobaltate is the most active SRE catalyst among studied spinels.
• The presence of zinc in the structure Zn–Co facilitates the reduction of cobalt.
• H2 yield increases in the order: ZnAl2O4 < ZnFe2O4 < ZnCo2O4.

Hydrogen production by ethanol steam reforming (SRE) was studied on zinc based catalysts with spinel-like structure. ZnM2O4 (M = Al, Co, Fe) mixed oxides were prepared by sol–gel technique with citric acid and characterized by XRD, TPR-H2, SBET, TPD-NH3 and decomposition of cyclohexanol. The XRD patterns confirm presence of well defined spinel-like structure of prepared materials. The highest catalytic activity towards hydrogen production was found for zinc cobaltate: the hydrogen yield on this catalyst is 2.8 mol H2/mol EtOH. The ZnO promoting the reduction of cobalt cations to Co0 that is more active in SRE.

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