Design of a stable steam reforming catalyst—A promising route to sustainable hydrogen from biomass oxygenates

The influence of the support and the presence of oxygen were investigated in the steam reforming of acetic acid, a bio-oil model compound, over Pt/ZrO2 and Pt/CeO2 catalysts. In the absence of oxygen, all catalysts suffered from deactivation. Acetone, formed via condensation/dehydration of acetic acid, is a coke precursor and causes catalyst deactivation. The use of a support with red-ox properties and the presence of oxygen improved the stability of the Pt/CeO2 catalyst tremendously. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) characterization of coke indicates that the presence of oxygen prevents extensive oligomerization/coke forming reactions and that the resulting specie are more easily combusted.