Mixed
metal oxides catalyze steam reforming of methanol (SRM) usually
at reaction temperatures of >400 °C, leading to high energy
consumption.
Herein, we report that a small amount of Cu doping can greatly promote
the activity of ZnZrOx in the SRM at low
temperatures. The 2%CuZnZrOx can efficiently
catalyze the SRM at temperatures as low as 300 °C to give 95.3%
methanol conversion, but ZnZrOx only shows
low methanol conversion (23.6%) under similar reaction conditions.
Structural characterizations show that CuZnZrOx catalysts are ternary solid solutions rich in Ov, which is
favorable for water activation. CuZnZrOx with low-valence Cuδ+ shows faster kinetics for
the generation and decomposition of HCOOH intermediate than ZnZrOx. The co-presence of Cuδ+ and Ov contributes to the excellent performance of CuZnZrOx. These findings provide an efficient strategy for
promoting the catalytic performance of metal oxides toward SRM