Effect of precursor and precipitant concentration on the performance of CuO/ZnO/CeO₂-ZrO₂ catalyst for methanol steam reforming

A series of CuO/ZnO/CeO₂-ZrO₂ catalysts for methanol steam reforming were prepared by a co-precipitation procedure, and the effect of precursor and precipitant concentration on the catalytic perforemance was investigated. All the catalysts were characterized by N₂ adsorption, XRD, H₂-TPR, and XPS. It is shown that the precursor and precipitant concentration remarkably influenced the catalyst structure and property. When the precursor concentration was 0.1mol/L and the precipitant concentration was 0.5mol/L, the catalyst exhibited the best activity with suppressed CO formation. During 360h run time, the highest methanol conversion reached 100%, the H₂ concentration was above 74.5%, and the CO concentration was below 0.8% in the reforming gas. The catalyst had excellent reforming performance without deactivation during 360h run time.