On the microwave enhanced combustion synthesis of CuO-ZnO-Al2O3 nanocatalyst used in methanol steam reforming for fuel cell grade hydrogen production: Effect of microwave irradiation and fuel ratio

CuO-ZnO-Al2O3 nanocatalysts were synthesized by the microwave-assisted solution combustion method to produce hydrogen via steam methanol reforming. The influence of fuel/nitrates ratio and microwave irradiation was investigated. For this purpose, a series of CuO-ZnO-Al2O3 nanocatalysts were fabricated using different amounts of ethylene glycol as fuel in a microwave oven and a conventional furnace. The characteristic properties of prepared nanocatalysts were studied by XRD, FESEM, BET, EDX and FTIR analyses.161