Modification strategies of heterogeneous catalysts for water–gas shift reactions

Abstract

Featuring high energy density, hydrogen has been deemed as a clean and renewable energy source as compared with conventional fossil fuels. The water–gas shift reaction (WGSR) exhibits great potential in the downstream processing of syngas and the production of hydrogen energy. To realize industrialized applications, tremendous efforts have been made toward the development of efficient, selective and stable WGSR catalysts. This review covers the reaction mechanisms, thermodynamics and kinetics of WGSR, focusing on the modification strategies of heterogeneous catalysts in terms of the size, morphology and pore structure, advanced preparation methods, surface acidity/basicity, interface engineering, and oxygen defects. A detailed discussion of the structure–performance relationship is also included in terms of the physicochemical properties and catalytic performance, along with conclusive remarks and proposed future works.