A Novel Nano-Ni/SiO_2 Catalyst for Hydrogen Production from Steam Reforming of Ethanol

摘要

Catalytic steam reforming of ethanol has been regarded as a promising way to produce hydrogen. However, catalytic deactivation is a key problem in the process. In this paper, a novel nano-Ni/SiO_2 catalyst was prepared by a simple sol-gel method and compared to catalysts prepared by an impregnation method in relation to the steam reforming ethanol process. Good Ni dispersion and high BET surface areas (>700 m~2 g~(-1)) were obtained for sol-gel catalysts, whereas only 1 m~2 g~(-1) surface area was obtained for the Ni/SiO_2 impregnation catalyst The results of catalytic steam reforming of ethanol showed that about twice of the hydrogen production was produced with the Ni/SiO_2 catalyst prepared by sol-gel (around 0.2 g h~(-1) compared with that prepared by impregnation (around 0.1 g h~(-1)). The analysis of the used catalysts showed that 10Ni/SiO_2-B and 20Ni/SiO_2-B presented the highest stability, while other catalysts were fragmented into small pieces after the reforming process, especially the catalysts prepared by impregnation. A novel catalyst has been produced that has been shown to be effective in the production of hydrogen fromthe steam reforming of ethanol.