Hydrogen production from methane at 200 to 500 °C – clean hydrogen production in conjunction with carbon fixation at 200 to 250 °C

Traditional low-temperature H2 production from methane needs high operating temperatures (above 500 °C), generates CO2 emissions, and shows poor stability. This study focused on more low-temperature stable H2 production from methane using a carbon-supported Ru catalyst (BS-Ru/C). This catalyst could stably generate H2 without COx at 200 °C over 15 days. The temperature for clean H2 production in conjunction with carbon fixation was found to be 200–250 °C, far lower than around 550 °C for the conventional low-temperature methane catalytic decomposition (MCD). The BS-Ru/C catalyst enabled the occurrence of steam reforming of methane (SRM) at 260 °C, which far exceeded other previous low-temperature catalysts reported at around 500 °C. Although CO2 was produced during the SRM process from 260 to 500 °C, no CO was produced. This lower-temperature stable H2 production technology using the BS-Ru/C catalyst with outstanding ability and stability will provide a helping hand to build a H2 society in near future.