Effect of ZnO facet on ethanol steam reforming over Co/ZnO

• Co/ZnO catalysts with different fractions of ZnO (10–10) facets were prepared.
• Different cobalt reducibility was observed on ZnO (0001/000-1) polar and ZnO (10–10) nonpolar facet.
• ZnO (10–10) facet stabilized metallic Co for WGS leading to high CO2 yield.

The effects of ZnO facets on ethanol steam reforming (ESR) were investigated over Co/ZnO catalysts synthesized using ZnO with different fractions of (10–10) non-polar facet. Co supported on ZnO with a higher fraction of (10–10) non-polar facet shows higher C–C cleavage activity and higher selectivity to CO2 (lower selectivity to CO) compared with Co supported on ZnO with less (10–10) non-polar facet exposed. The improved ethanol steam reforming performances are attributed to the high fraction of metallic Co stabilized by the ZnO (10–10) non-polar facet, which enhanced C–C cleavage and water-gas-shift (WGS) activities.

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