Nanostructured catalysts for hydrogen production by liquid phase reforming of sugarcane solutions

Sugarcane is an ideal source of hydrogen in Australia. The influence of several reaction parameters on hydrogen production using reforming of aqueous sugar solution over innovative Pt, Pd, and Ni nanometals supported on mesoporous metal oxides at 185°-250°C under high pressure was studied. Bimetallic catalysts, e.g., Pt-Ni, Pt-Pd, and Pd-Ni had higher activity for the production of hydrogen using aqueous solutions of sugars and ethylene glycol compared with the monometallic catalysts. The catalyst support also affected the selectivity for hydrogen production with hydrogen selectivity decreasing in the order γ-Al ₂O ₃ > ZrO ₂ > CeAl. The rate of formation of hydrogen varied for different sugars in the order sucrose > fructose > glucose > ethylene glycol and it also increased as temperature increased from 185°-220°C. A good catalyst for production of H ₂ by liquid-phase reforming must facilitate C-C bond cleavage and promote removal of adsorbed CO species by the water-gas shift reaction, but the catalyst must not facilitate C-O bond cleavage and hydrogenation of CO or CO ₂. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 18th International Congress of Chemical Process Engineering (Praque, Czech Republic 8/24-28/2008).