Hydrogen generation by acetic acid steam reforming over Ni-based catalysts derived from La1−xCexNiO3 perovskite

In this work, La1−xCexNiO3 perovskite-type oxide derived catalysts were synthesized for hydrogen generation from acetic acid steam reforming process (AcSR), and the effect of Ce substitution was investigated. Various techniques were applied to characterize the properties of synthesized catalysts including X-ray diffraction (XRD), H2 temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), H2 chemisorption, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N2 adsorption-desorption, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The characterization results demonstrated that the perovskite-type oxide derived catalysts possessed uniform Ni dispersion and small Ni particle size. The adding of Ce remarkably increased the metal support interaction, improved the coke resistance and enhanced the water gas shift reaction. The reactivity and stability tests were conducted in a fixed-bed reactor. The La0.9Ce0.1NiO3 exhibited the best performance for AcSR with an average H2 yield of 90%, an average acetic acid conversion of 95%, and an accumulated coke deposition of 11.8 wt% in a 30-h stability test.