Carbon monoxide-free hydrogen production via low-temperature steam reforming of ethanol over iron-promoted Rh catalyst

For the first time, a novel iron-promoted Rh catalyst is developed to produce CO-free H2 through steam reforming of ethanol at low temperatures, between 623 and 673 K. The iron oxides in the vicinity of Rh sites reduce the CO adsorption on Rh sites and transfer the adsorbed CO from Rh to COO-formate species on FexOy for the subsequent water–gas shift reaction, resulting in a high H2 yield, extremely low CO selectivity, and a long Rh life span.