Novel Catalytic Systems for Hydrogen Production via the Water-Gas Shift Reaction

Abstract

The present work reports on the development of new catalysts for the production of hydrogen via the water-gas shift (WGS) reaction. In particular, the effect of Ce/La atom ratio on the catalytic performance of 0.5 wt% Pt supported on Ce 1 − x La x O 2 − δ ( x = 0.0,0.2,0.5,0.8,1.0 ) mixed metal oxides for the WGS reaction was investigated. It was found that the addition of 20 at.% La 3+ in CeO 2 lattice increased significantly the catalytic activity and stability of 0.5 wt% Pt / Ce 0.8 La 0.2 O 2 − δ solid. More precisely, a lower amount of “carbon” was accumulated on the catalyst surface, whereas surface acidity and basicity studies showed that Ce 0.8 La 0.2 O 2 − δ had the highest concentration of labile oxygen and acid sites, and the lowest concentration of basic sites compared to the other Ce 1 − x La x O 2 − δ mixed metal oxide supports ( x = 0.2,0.5,0.8 ).