A mini review on recent progress of steam reforming of ethanol

Abstract

H₂ is one of the promising renewable energy sources, but its production and transportation remain challenging. Distributed H₂ production using liquid H₂ carriers is one of the ideal ways of H₂ utilization. Among common H₂ carriers, ethanol is promising as it has high H₂ content and can be derived from renewable bio-energy sources such as sucrose, starch compounds, and cellulosic biomass. To generate H₂ from ethanol, steam reforming of ethanol (SRE) is the most common way, while appropriate catalysts, usually supported metal catalysts, are indispensable. However, the SRE process is quite complicated and always accompanied by various undesirable by-products, causing low H₂ yield. Moreover, the catalysts for SRE are easy to deactivate due to sintering and carbon deposition under high reaction temperatures. In recent years, lots of efforts have been made to reveal SRE mechanisms and synthesize catalysts with high H₂ yield and excellent stability. Both active metals and supports play an important role in the reaction. This mini-review summarizes the recent progress of SRE catalysts from the view of the impacts of active metals and supports and draws an outlook for future research directions.