Catalytic production of hydrogen through aqueous-phase reforming over platinum/ordered mesoporous carbon catalysts

Abstract

A series of platinum catalysts supported on ordered mesoporous carbon (CMK-3) with different Pt loadings from 1 to 10 wt% have been prepared, and their catalytic activities for hydrogen production viaaqueous-phase reforming (APR) of ethylene glycol (EG) have been investigated. Characterization by X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, N₂ sorption, and CO chemisorption techniques reveal that an ordered mesostructure, high surface area, large pore volume, and uniform mesopore size in the mesopores are maintained with a high dispersion of platinum nanoparticles after APR of EG at 250 °C under 45 atm over 24 h. These results show that the structure of the ordered mesoporous carbon support exhibits outstanding hydrothermal stability in APR under high pressure and temperature. The APR activities of Pt/CMK-3 catalysts as a function of Pt loading were increased up to 7 wt% Pt loading. The optimum Pt loading was found to be 7 wt%, with a 37.8 cm³g_cat⁻¹ min⁻¹hydrogen production rate. The results presented in this work suggest that Pt/CMK-3 is a very efficient catalyst for producing hydrogen in the APR reaction due to good hydrothermal stability with an open mesoporous structure. The findings presented here are expected to provide new opportunities for rational design of heterogeneous carbonaceous catalysts for aqueous-phase reactions under severe reaction conditions.