The effect of ceria content on the performance of Pt/γ-Al2O3 nanocatalyst for steam reforming of glycerol

Glycerol as a by-product of biodiesel is a renewable resource that can be used for the sustainable production of hydrogen. In this work, platinum nanocatalyst supported on gamma alumina was synthesized for use in the steam reforming of glycerol at a temperature below 450 oC to produce H2 for fuel cell application. First, the supported Pt catalyst was prepared by sol-gel method and then impregnated with H2PtCl6.6H2O as the Pt precursor. To improve the catalytic activity, H2 selectivity and reducing the amount of CO, metal oxides such as CeO2 are used as modifier. The influence of ceria on synthesized nanocatalyst was studied. The catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) techniques. According to the experimental results, the incorporation of CeO2 on the catalyst showed a good effect on decreasing the particle size of the catalyst.

Keywords:

nanocatalyst , steam reforming of glycerol , H2 production , modifier