Bifunctional catalysts for hydrogen production from dimethyl ether

Abstract The production of hydrogen directly from dimethyl ether (DME) was performed on bifunctional Cu-Ce/Al 2 O 3 catalysts. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, HRTEM, EDX and IR spectroscopy of low-temperature CO adsorption. The high hydrogen productivity up to 600 mmol g -1 h -1 may be explained by assuming that (1) DME dehydration occurs on acid sites of γ-Al 2 O 3 and (2) methanol steam reforming takes place on mixed oxide phase CuO-CeO 2 , solid solution of copper ions in cerium dioxide with ratio Cu/Ce from 12/86 to 33/67 at..