Wang Jing, Gu Haoyuan, Liu Qi, Li Didi, Xu Jing, Zhu Minghui
State Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Engineering and Industrial Catalysis, School of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai 200237, China.
Guangxi Key Laboratory of Petrochemical Resource Processing and Process Intensification Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China.
Nanoscale. 2025 Jun 19;17(24):14741-14749. doi: 10.1039/d5nr00505a.
Methanol steam reforming (MSR) represents a cost-effective method for hydrogen production. Structured catalysts, which exhibit strong resistance to frequent mechanical vibrations and suitability for on-board MSR, are somewhat complicated to fabricate. Herein, we synthesized and investigated copper-magnesium (Cu-Mg) mesh-type structured catalysts by a modified cycling chronopotentiometry method. The Cu-Mg-mesh catalyst was electro-synthesized in a Mg(NO) electrolyte and achieved a H yield of 205.82 mmol (g h) at 250 °C and a WHSV of 12 h, whereas the unpromoted Cu-mesh catalyst prepared in a NaNO electrolyte exhibited no catalytic activity under the same reaction conditions. A series of characterization and chemisorption studies show that MgO not only improves the dispersion and stability of Cu nanoparticles, but also strengthens the catalyst surface basicity, promotes the formation of methoxy intermediates and boosts the activity of formate, ultimately leading to superior catalytic performance.
