Hydrogen production by steam reforming of ethanol over Pt/CeO₂ catalyst in electric field at low temperature

Catalytic ethanol steam reforming over Pt/CeO₂ catalyst in an electric field at low temperature and the effect of the electric field and controlling factors for the activity and selectivity were investigated. With the electric field ethanol steam reforming proceeded at temperatures as low as 423 K at which the conventional catalytic reaction hardly proceeded. Conversion of ethanol and H₂ yield significantly increased with the electric field and apparent activation energies for ethanol dehydrogenation acetaldehyde decomposition and acetaldehyde steam reforming were lowered by the electric field. In-situ DRIFTS measurements revealed that the adsorbed ethanol formed reactive acetate species with the electric field even at low temperature which improved H₂ selectivity.