Hydrogen production enhancement via methanol steam reforming with copper-zinc catalysts

Abstract

Methanol steam reforming (SRM) integrated with fuel cells presents a promising solution for sustainable hydrogen (H₂) generation, enabling on-site production from liquid methanol. In this study, Cu-Zn catalysts were synthesized using homogeneous precipitation (HP) and co-precipitation (CP) methods, with samarium (Sm), gadolinium (Gd), and cerium (Ce) employed as rare-earth promoters. Catalysts prepared by the HP method with 1.5 M urea showed the highest performance, as confirmed by FE-SEM, BET, and XRD analyses. The addition of Sm, Gd, and Ce enhanced Cu dispersion, lowered the reduction temperature (T₉₅), reduced CO formation, and increased hydrogen yield (F_H2). The most active catalysts, CuO/ZnO/Sm₂O₃/CeO₂ and CuO/ZnO/Gd₂O₃/CeO₂, achieved over 90 % methanol conversion at 240 °C. Catalysts were loaded into U-shaped stainless steel packed-bed reactors (PBRs), and the SRM process was conducted under controlled temperature and flow conditions. The hydrogen-rich gas (HRG) produced was analyzed using gas chromatography (GC-TCD). A complete methanol reforming fuel cell system was developed by coupling the SRM reactor with a high-temperature proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC). The system produced a stable electrical output of 20 W, with peak output reaching 30 W, confirming the feasibility of in situ hydrogen production for fuel cell applications. These results highlight the effectiveness of rare-earth-modified Cu-Zn catalysts for integrated SRM-fuel cell systems in clean energy technologies.