Ethanol steam reforming and water gas shift over Co/ZnO catalytic honeycombs doped with Fe, Ni, Cu, Cr and Na

The effect of Fe, Ni, Cu, Cr, and Na (1%) addition over ZnO-supported Co (10%) honeycomb catalysts in the steam reforming of ethanol (ESR) and water gas shift reaction (WGS) for the production of hydrogen was studied. HRTEM and EEL spectroscopy revealed the formation of metal alloys between Co and Fe, Ni, Cu, and Cr. Catalysts promoted with Fe and Cr performed better in the ESR, and the sample promoted with Fe showed high activity for WGS at low temperature. As deduced from TPR and oxidation pulse experiments, alloy particles in catalysts promoted with Fe and Cr exhibited a rapid and higher degree of redox exchange between reduced and oxidized Co, which may explain the better catalytic performance.