The role of CeO2–ZrO2 as support in the ZnO–ZnCr2O4 catalysts for autothermal reforming of methanol

Autothermal reforming of methanol for hydrogen production was investigated over ZnO–ZnCr2O4 supported on a series of metal oxides (Al2O3, CeO2, ZrO2 and CeO2–ZrO2). CeO2–ZrO2 mixed oxides with Ce /Zr molar ratio of 4/1 was found to be the optimal support which showed significant effect on the catalytic activity and selectivity. The ZnO–ZnCr2O4/CeO2–ZrO2 and ZnO–ZnCr2O4 catalysts were characterized by XRD, TEM, H2-TPR and XPS. The results show that CeO2–ZrO2 mixed oxides have significant effect on the catalytic performance and the supported catalyst shows more uniform temperature distribution in the catalyst bed which was mainly due to its reasonable redox properties.