Effect of Specific Surface Area and Zr Doping Content on Oxygen Storage Capacity (OSC) and Methane Steam Reforming Reactivity of CeO2-ZrO2

Abstract

This paper investigated the effect of specific surface area and Zr doping content on oxygen storage capacity (OSC) and methane steam reforming reactivity of CeO2 and Ce-ZrO2. It was found that the specific surface area of ceria and the doping of Zr present important role on the oxygen storage capacity (OSC) and the reactivity toward methane steam reforming. After calcination at 900{degree sign}C, ceria prepared by Surfactant- assisted method (SF) was observed from the present work to have significantly higher surface area than those prepared by Templating (TP) and Precipitation (PP) methods; this material showed strong OSC and better reforming reactivity compared to others. In detail, the degree of OSC was measured by the number of hydrogen uptake from the temperature programmed reduction (TPR). It was found that the value of hydrogen uptake from the TPR of ceria prepared by SF was 2084 mmol/g, whereas those of ceria prepared by TP and PP were 1724 and 781 mmol/g, respectively. According to the reactivity toward methane steam reforming, after purging in 3 kPa methane at 900 C for 8h, the methane conversion for ceria prepared by SF was approximately 38%, whereas those of ceria prepared by TP and PP were 22%.