Catalytic decomposition of alcohols over size-selected Pt nanoparticles supported on ZrO2: A study of activity, selectivity, and stability Original Research Article

This article discusses the performance of ZrO2-supported size-selected Pt nanoparticles for the decomposition of methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol, and 2-butanol. The potential of each alcohol for the production of H2 and other relevant products in the presence of a catalyst is studied in a packed-bed mass flow reactor operating at atmospheric pressure. All the alcohols studied show some decomposition activity below 200 °C which increased with increasing temperature. In all cases, high selectivity towards H2 formation is observed. With the exception of methanol, all alcohol conversion reactions lead to catalyst deactivation at high temperatures (T > 250 °C for 2-propanol and 2-butanol, T > 325 °C for ethanol) due to carbon poisoning. However, long-term catalyst deactivation can be avoided by optimizing reaction conditions such as operating temperature.