Hydrothermal synthesis of high surface area CuCrO2 for H2 production by methanol steam reforming

Rong-Jun Huang; Subramanian Sakthinathan; Te-Wei Chiu; Chaofang Dong

doi:10.1039/d1ra01332g

Hydrothermal synthesis of high surface area CuCrO₂ for H₂ production by methanol steam reforming

RSC Adv. 2021 Mar 31;11(21):12607-12613. doi: 10.1039/d1ra01332g. eCollection 2021 Mar 29.

Authors

Rong-Jun Huang¹, Subramanian Sakthinathan¹, Te-Wei Chiu¹, Chaofang Dong²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology 1, Section 3, Zhongxiao E. Rd Taipei 106 Taiwan tewei@ntut.edu.tw.
² Corrosion and Protection Center, Key Laboratory for Corrosion and Protection (MOE), University of Science and Technology Beijing China cfdong@ustb.edu.cn.

Abstract

Hydrogen (H₂) is viewed as an alternative source of renewable energy in response to the worldwide energy crisis and climate change. In industry, hydrogen production is mainly achieved through steam reforming of fossil fuels. In this research, hydrothermally-synthesized delafossite CuCrO₂ nanopowder were applied in methanol steam reforming. Reducing the size of the CuCrO₂ nanopowder significantly improved the efficiency of hydrogen production. The prepared CuCrO₂ nanopowder were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The calculated BET surface area of the hydrothermally synthesized CuCrO₂ nanopowder was 148.44 m² g^-1. The CuCrO₂ nanopowder displayed high catalytic activity, and the production rate was 2525 mL STP per min per g-cat at 400 °C and a flow rate of 30 sccm. The high specific area and steam reforming mechanism of the CuCrO₂ nanopowder catalyst could have vital industrial and economic effects.