Investigation of Copper Particles Supported on SBA‐15 as Methanol Steam Reforming Catalysts

Introduction Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalysts are frequently used for H2 production by methanol steam reforming (MSR). For subsequent fuel cell application CO formation by methanol decomposition and reversed water gas shift reaction [1] needs to be avoided. Hence, developing improved catalysts requires a good understanding of the correlations between structure and catalytic performance. Therefore, suitable model systems are developed. Investigating Cu/ZnO and Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalysts revealed a relationship between increasing catalyst activity and microstrain in Cu particles of the active catalysts. 3] Because in these model systems chemical and structural complexity are varied simultaneously, Cu particles supported on nanostructured silica (SBA-15) was chosen as additional model system. Different sizes of disordered well-dispersed Cu particles have been deposited on the silica support. Investigations of the Cu particles focus on correlations between evolution of catalytic activity and microstructure during varying reaction conditions.