Methanol reforming reactions over Zn/TiO2 catalysts

It has been proved that a novel class of catalysts containing only titanium and zinc oxides with different Zn/Ti molar ratio is able to produce hydrogen by methanol reforming. Catalysts were characterised by X-ray diffraction. The influence of the reaction temperature, fed composition and catalyst composition were investigated. The best catalyst performances were obtained when χZn = 0.05. A comparative study on the steam reforming of methanol and combined reforming of methanol reactions was performed at the same conditions. The main by-products were CO, (CH3)2O and CH4. Coke was formed when χZn ⩽ 0.02. In particular it was verified that a proper amount of zinc in the catalyst prevented coke and reduced by-products formation, however if χZn ⩾ 0.10 it limited the catalyst performances reducing surface area and forming zincite.