Dry Reforming of Methane for Hydrogen Production Using Bimetallic Catalysts of Pt‐Fe Supported on γ‐Alumina

Abstract

Biogas is a combustible composed mostly by methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Methane, the main component of biogas, is the responsible for the characteristics of the fuel itself. Greenhouse gases (GHG), including methane, along with global warming and depletion of fossil fuels have become issues of global concern. In the present work, Pt−Fe catalysts supported on γ‐Al2O3 varying the metal load were synthesized, characterized, and applied in the hydrogen production through dry reforming of methane. The synthesized catalysts were extensively characterized by analytical techniques such as X‐Ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravimetric analysis coupled with differential thermal analysis (DTA/TGA), infrared spectroscopy with Fourier transform (FT‐IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N2 physisorption, X‐ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS) and high–resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR‐TEM). The results from the catalytic tests exhibited that methane conversion reached values up to 95 % for all studied catalysts. The maximum H2 selectivity was 68 % (973 K) and 55 % (1173 K), for the bimetallic catalysts 0.15 PFAc (0.5 % Pt‐0.15 % Fe wt/Al2O3) and 0.5 PFAc (0.5 % Pt–0.5 % Fe wt/Al2O3) respectively. XPS and HR‐TEM results confirmed the iron‐platinum phase (FePt). Catalyst characteristics such as specific surface area, average crystallite size and morphology showed to play a role in the methane reforming performance.

Prospects and Technical Challenges in Hydrogen Production through Dry Reforming of Methane

“…Those effects can range from the stabilization of metal particles to improvements in metal-support interactions, metal dispersion and reducibility [89,90]. Increased metal dispersion and strong metal-support interactions, for example, have already been linked to performance improvements on DRM, such as higher H 2 yields and suppressing of coke formation [91]. Furthermore, recent DFT modeling and calculations have considered that the appropriate fine-tuning active phase composition can lead to the suppressing of DRM side reactions, such as RWGS, which would contribute to higher H 2 /CO ratio on the final syngas [92].…”