| There is great concern about the increasing demand for energy with respect to carbon emissions, but hydrogen (H2), a clean fuel, could help alleviate this concern. The replacement of fossil fuels with H2 is cost prohibitive, but the integration of steam reforming of methane (SRM) and water gas shift (WGS) could greatly decrease the cost of production. A composite catalyst of nickel, cerium, zirconium, and zinc was designed to provide activity in both the SRM and WGS reactions. The catalysts were characterized by a variety of techniques including BET, TEM, SEM, TPO, and XRD. It was found that the addition of zinc decreased the surface area, and therefore the activity of the SRM reaction, although it increased WGS activity as observed by improved carbon dioxide selectivity and H2 production. Zinc also increased resistance to carbon deposition. Additionally, aging of precipitates during catalyst synthesis provided improved stability over 48 hours. A Ce/Zr/Zn catalyst doped with 10% Ni and aged for two hours was found to have a final conversion of nearly 20% at 650 °C, and high CO2 selectivity around 55%. This catalyst is an important step in the emerging field of low temperature SRM, a field that could lead to a reduction in carbon emissions. |
