Cu-Al spinel oxide as a sustained release catalyst for methanol steam reforming: Enhancing the catalytic performance via surface reconstruction

Cu-Al spinel oxide as a sustained release catalyst gradually releases active metal Cu during the methanol steam reforming reaction, whose catalytic behavior depends strongly on the surface structure of the catalyst. In this context, Cu-Al spinel solid solution is synthesized by a solid phase ball milling method, followed by treating with acidic and basic solutions in order to modulate the surface composition and structure, thereby to further improve the catalytic performance. Nitric acid is effective for the removal of both surface dispersed Cu and Al oxide species, whereas sodium hydroxide is only effective for the removal of Al oxide species, and ammonium hydroxide shows the weakest effect, removing a very small amount of Cu and Al species. Accompanying with the loss of Cu and Al species, the catalyst surface undergoes structural reconstruction, showing a redistribution of Cu species. Consequently, the copper releasing behavior varies drastically. The catalytic testing results show that the nitric acid and ammonium hydroxide treated catalysts present improved activity, where in the former also shows better stability. Sodium hydroxide treatment has a negative effect on the sustained releasing catalytic performance. In combination with the characterization results of the tested catalysts, it is found that both the copper particle dimension and the microstructure strain of sustained released copper play important roles in the catalytic performance. The findings of this report provide a practical method for the improvement of the sustained releasing catalysis.