Hydrogen production from oxidative steam reforming of ethanol over rhodium catalysts supported on Ce–La solid solution

The catalytic behaviors of Rh catalysts supported on Ce–La solid solution in H2 production from the oxidative steam reforming (OSR) of ethanol were studied for the first time. 1%Rh/Ce0.7La0.3Oy exhibits 100% ethanol conversion at 573 K with H2 yield rate 214 μmol g-cat−1 s−1, which is 150 K lower than that required for comparable performance with 1%Rh/CeO2. La doping also enhanced the stability by accelerating CH3COCH3 conversion and gave low CO selectivity due to the high water gas shift activity. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy characterizations indicate the formation of Ce–La solid solutions and oxygen vacancies. H2 temperature-programmed reduction and thermo-gravimetric measurement results confirmed that the redox properties of Rh/CeO2 were greatly enhanced by La doping, which accelerated ethanol conversion, promoted H2 yield, and maintained good long–term activity for the OSR reaction.