Synthesis of Mesoporous ZnO (m-ZnO) and Catalytic Performance of the Pd/m-ZnO Catalyst for Methanol Steam Reforming

Abstract

Mesoporous ZnO (m-ZnO) was successfully synthesized by a supermolecule-templeting approach under hydrothermal conditions, in which triblock co-polymer Pluronic (F-127) was introduced as a template reagent. The corresponding Pd/m-ZnO catalyst was prepared using the deposition−precipitation method, and its catalytic performance was determined in the methanol steam reforming process. Those products were characterized by means of Brunauer−Emmett−Teller surface area (BET), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), and H 2 temperature-programmed reduction (TPR). In comparison to the Pd/ZnO catalyst, the Pd/m-ZnO catalyst possessed the higher catalytic activity, H 2 yield, and CO 2 selectivity, which was attributed to the m-ZnO with a larger BET surface area (124.7 m 2 /g), uniform pore distribution, and stronger interaction with Pd.