Porous reticular CuO/ZnO/CeO2/ZrO2 catalyst derived from polyacrylic acid hydrogel system on Al2O3 foam ceramic support for methanol steam reforming microreactor

Abstract

A hydrophilic polyacrylic acid hydrogel was formed in the millimeter-sized pores of Al2O3 foam ceramic by the polymerization of acrylic acid, and a large amount of nitrates precursor solution was adsorbed by the hydrogel via vacuum impregnation. A porous reticular CuO/ZnO/CeO2/ZrO2 catalyst with fine and uniform particles was obtained after 500 °C calcination. The ceramic loaded with pristine PAA hydrogel and loaded with absorbed hydrogel after 300 °C and 500 °C calcination were characterized to illustrate the formation mechanism of catalyst structure. The ceramic after 500 °C calcination was applied in a microreactor as catalyst support for methanol steam reforming to investigate the catalytic performance. Results showed that the porous reticular catalyst reduced the size of the catalytic channels and increased the number of effective catalytic channels simultaneously, resulting in a 100% methanol conversion rate, 0.288 mol/h H2 yield at 300 °C and an inlet methanol flow rate of 0.096 mol/h.