Autothermal reforming of ethanol for hydrogen production over an Rh/CeO2 catalyst

Hydrogen production from ethanol by autothermal reforming over an Rh/CeO2 catalyst was investigated with a stoichiometric feed composition. Ethanol as well as the reaction intermediates like acetaldehyde and acetone was entirely converted to hydrogen and C1 products at 673 K, and methane steam reforming and reverse water gas shift were the major reactions above 823 K. The Rh/CeO2 catalyst exhibited stable activity and selectivity during 70 h on-stream operation at 823–923 K without obvious deactivation evidenced by the constant effluent gas composition. Structural analysis of the used catalyst revealed that CeO2 prevented effectively the highly dispersed Rh particles with sizes of 1–3 nm from sintering and thus maintained sufficient Rh–CeO2 interfacial areas, which facilitated coke gasification through the high oxygen storage-release capacity.