Oxidative steam reforming of ethanol over Rh catalyst supported on Ce1−xLaxOy (x = 0.3) solid solution prepared by urea co-precipitation method

•Ce–La solid solution supported Rh catalyst shows high activity for H2 production.•The catalyst also shows low CO selectivity and good stability.•The performance of the catalysts varied depending on urea/metal ratio during preparation.

A Ce1−xLaxOy solid solution (CL) is prepared by a co-precipitation method using urea as a precipitant, with varying urea/metal molar ratio (N). The supported rhodium catalysts are then prepared by an impregnation method for use in hydrogen production from oxidative steam reforming (OSR) of ethanol. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectra results confirm the formation of CL, and the crystal structures of these catalysts are not very sensitive to the urea/metal molar ratios (N = 5–15). However, the surface area and reducibility of the Rh/CL-N catalysts decrease monotonically with increasing N. During the OSR process, a similar tendency is also observed for ethanol conversion and hydrogen selectivity. Among the catalysts tested, Rh/CL-5 shows the best catalytic performance, achieving >97% ethanol conversion at 300 °C with H2 yield rate of 210 μmol g-cat−1 s−1. At 450 °C, its hydrogen selectivity reaches 117%, with no observable change after 72 h aging.

Graphical abstractCe1−xLaxOy solid solution-supported Rh catalysts exhibit high activity and long term for oxidative steam reforming of ethanol to H2 at low temperatures. The catalytic performance is greatly affect by the urea/metal molar ratio during the preparation of supports by urea co-precipitation.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide