A well-dispersed catalyst on porous silicon micro-reformer for enhancing adhesion in the catalyst-coating process

A Cu/Mn/ZnO catalyst slurry was modified with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a dispersant and organic binder. The slurry, which forms a crack-free coating, was injected directly into an open microchannel before anodic bonding with Pyrex glass. To improve adherence, porous silicon (pore size <1 μm) was fabricated in the microchannel. Ultrasonic vibration test (180 W, 20 min) showed good adhesion with only 6 wt.% loss. The thicker catalyst layer, with lower thermal diffusivity (0.98 mm2/s), reduced heat loss during reaction on cratered design and performed better than two other geometric designs (blank, straight). The microchannel with cratered design can be deposited with a catalyst up to 24.4 mg, and has a hydrogen production rate of 0.85 mmol h−1 and 86% methanol conversion at 200 °C under a feed rate of 2SCCM.