Abstract
Formic acid, a major product of biomass processing, is regarded as a potential liquid carrier for hydrogen storage and delivery. The catalytic dehydrogenation of FA to generate hydrogen using heterogeneous catalysts is of great interest. Ni based catalysts supported on silica were synthesized by incipient wet impregnation. The effect of doping with an alkaline earth metal (calcium) was studied, and the solids were tested in the formic acid decomposition reaction to produce hydrogen. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and programmed temperature surface reaction (TPSR). The catalyst doped with 19.3 wt.% of Ca showed 100% conversion of formic acid at 160 °C, with a 92% of selectivity to hydrogen. In addition, all the tested materials were promising for their application, since they showed catalytic behaviors (conversion and selectivity to hydrogen) comparable to those of noble metals reported in the literature.
Highlights
Hydrogen (H2) has significant advantages as an energy vector compared to petroleum or other conventional fossil fuels, currently there are problems associated with its production, storage, and transportation that must be solved [1]
The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and programmed temperature surface reaction (TPSR)
The reduction temperature increased with the Ca loading
Summary
Hydrogen (H2) has significant advantages as an energy vector compared to petroleum or other conventional fossil fuels, currently there are problems associated with its production, storage, and transportation that must be solved [1]. Formic acid is a chemical substance of relatively low specific volume and has limited uses, including its application as an antibacterial and antifungal agent It can be produced by chemical methods such as the hydrolysis of methyl formate, but it is obtained in equimolar proportions, together with levulinic acid, by hydrolysis of cellulose raw materials derived from biomass. With the increased interest in the production of levulinic acid and other valuable chemicals from biomass, it is important to develop processes to use the derived formic acid, since, otherwise, it constitutes a waste material [1] In this direction, the interest in the use of the decomposition reaction of formic acid to produce H2 has increased remarkably. This demand can be achieved through the careful choice of the catalyst and the reaction conditions, so a lot of research is currently being done in this direction
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