La2O2CO3 supported Ni-Fe catalysts for hydrogen production from steam reforming of ethanol

La2O2CO3 was prepared by calcination of La2 (CO3)3 in the air. Catalysts Ni-Fe/La2O2CO3 with different mole ratios of Ni to Fe, Ni/La2O2CO3 and Fe/La2O2CO3 were prepared by impregnation method. The catalytic properties were evaluated on steam reforming of ethanol (SRE) from 300 to 700 °C under atmospheric pressure and the samples were characterized by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and temperature programmed reduction (TPR). The results showed that Ni-Fe bimetallic catalysts exhibited higher activities than single metallic catalysts, which was attributed to the co-existence of well dispersed Ni, Fe and LaFeyNi1–yO3. It was found that the catalyst Ni-Fe/La2O2CO3 containing 10 wt.% Ni and 3 wt.%–5 wt.% Fe showed the best performance, the conversion of ethanol was 100%, the selectivity of H2 was higher than 90%, and the selectivity of CO was lower than 1.5% at 400 °C.