Ni/La2O3-ZrO2 catalyst for hydrogen production from steam reforming of acetic acid as a model compound of bio-oil

Hydrogen production from steam reforming of acetic acid was investigated over Ni/La2O3-ZrO2 catalyst. A series of Ni/La2O3-ZrO2 catalysts were synthesized by sol-gel method coupled with wet impregnation, which was characterized by XRD, BET, TEM, EDS, TG, SEM and TPR. Catalytic activity of Ni/La2O3-ZrO2 was evaluated by steam reforming of acetic acid at the temperature range of 550-750 °C. The tetragonal phase La0.1Zr0.9O1.95 is formed through the doping of La2O3 into the ZrO2 lattice and nickel species are highly dispersed on the support with high specific surface area. H2 yield and CO2 yield of Ni/La2O3-ZrO2 catalyst with 15%wt Ni reaches 89.27% and 80.41% at 600 °C, respectively, which is attributed to high BET surface area and sufficient Ni active sites in strong interaction with the support. 15%wt Ni supported on La2O3-ZrO2 catalyst maintains relatively stable catalytic activities for a period of 20 h.