Steam reforming of acetic acid for hydrogen production over attapulgite and alumina supported Ni catalysts: Impacts of properties of supports on catalytic behaviors

Abstract

In this study, the potential of attapulgite (ATTP) as the support of nickel catalysts for steam reforming of acetic acid to produce hydrogen were evaluated. Ni/Al2O3 was prepared and evaluated for comparison. The results showed that ATTP had a much lower specific surface area and a lower thermal stability than alumina. Nevertheless, the interaction between nickel and ATTP was much weaker than that of nickel with alumina. As a result, the Ni/ATTP catalyst had superior activity than the Ni/Al2O3 catalyst, especially at low nickel loading. Ni/Al2O3 was more stable than Ni/ATTP. The fibrous coke, which was probably catalytic coke, formed over Ni/Al2O3 did not cause the rapid deactivation of the catalyst, while the amorphous coke formed over Ni/ATTP catalyst, which was probably the polymeric coke, rapidly deactivated the catalyst. The coke species contained COOH, CO, aliphatic structure and aromatic ring structures. In addition, the effects of these two carriers on the steam reforming mechanism were investigated by the in-situ DRIFTS.