Catalytically activated stainless steel plates for the dehydrogenation of perhydro dibenzyltoluene

Abstract Hydrogen storage and transport via Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHC) is gaining increasing attention. In this study, we present catalytically activated stainless steel plates as a promising alternative to the commonly used pellet catalysts for the dehydrogenation of perhydro dibenzyltoluene (H18-DBT). These plate catalysts promise better heat transport to the active sites. For improved performance, we modified our Pt/alumina plate catalysts by using i) platinum sulfite impregnation and ii) post-treatment with (NH4)2SO4. Post-treatment with (NH4)2SO4 resulted in a less active catalyst with lower formation of high-boiling side products compared to the S-free plate catalyst. Catalysts prepared with platinum sulfite showed both >35% higher activities and 90% reduction in high-boiler formation compared to the S-free plate catalysts. Our findings pave the way for the development of catalytically activated heat transfer plates that would allow the incorporation of LOHC dehydrogenation units into the geometry of future high temperature fuel cell stacks.