Efficiency of H Production Influenced by CeO Content-Dependent Copper-Ceria Interaction.

The interaction between active sites and the support plays a crucial aspect in the methanol steam reforming (MSR) reaction, which often influences the dispersion states and concentration of surface oxygen vacancies (O). Here we report the fabrication of copper-ceria catalysts that contain different copper-ceria structures by adjusting the metal loading content. The CeCuO catalyst shows a H production rate as high as 53.2 mL ·g ·min at 250 °C, benefiting from the highly dispersed Cu species. When the Ce/Cu molar ratio is reduced further, the H production rate continues to decrease due to the agglomeration of Cu. However, O is another aspect of catalytic performance. The CeCuO catalyst demonstrates an unexpected rise in the H production rate for its abundant O. Both the dispersion states of Cu species and the concentration of O are significant. Among them, the optimal Ce/Cu ratio is 1/9 for CO-free MSR, which is potentially beneficial in a clean H production area.