Developing Pt based bimetallic and trimetallic carbon supported catalysts for aqueous-phase reforming of biomass-derived compounds

• Pt-based bimetallic and trimetallic carbon supported catalysts were prepared.
• Catalytic activity was tested over APR of biomass hydrolyzate and glucose solution.
• H2 selectivity was better in biomass hydrolyzate compared to glucose solution.
• PtRu-AC, PtNi-AC, PtRu-MWCNT were most active Pt-based bimetallic catalysts for APR of biomass.
• PtRu-MWCNT had higher catalytic performance compared to Pt-MWCNT for APR of biomass.

In the present work, a series of Pt-based bimetallic and trimetallic activated carbon (AC) and multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) supported catalysts at a 10 wt% total metal loading were prepared by wetness impregnation method to evaluate gasification performance of lignocellulosic biomass hydrolyzate and glucose solution for hydrogen-rich gas production by aqueous-phase reforming (APR) process. The Ru, Ni and Sn were added as promoter to platinum based supported catalysts with a 1:1 atomic ratio for bimetalic catalysts and 1:1:1 for trimetallic catalysts. The interactions between metals and the effect of alloy formation on gasification activity of the catalysts were investigated. The catalytic activity of Pt-MWCNT catalyst increased 21.2% by the addition of Ru metal. Bimetallic PtRu-MWCNT catalyst had a significantly higher catalytic activity and hydrogen selectivity compared to monometallic Pt-MWCNT for APR of biomass compounds. Since Ni and Ru metals promoted the activity of platinum catalysts, those catalysts could be used for displacement of platinum catalysts due to their low cost and relatively good catalytic activity in gasification of biomass-derived compounds.

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