Characterization and study of catalytic activity of Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 systems for oxidative steam reforming of methanol

Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalysts with different composition, prepared from LDH precursors, are studied for OSRM. The catalysts are characterizad by XRD, N2 adsorption and TPR techniques. N2O passivation/TPR method is used for the measurement of Cu dispersion. Redox properties are greatly influenced by the chemical composition. Cu dispersion is a function of Cu content: nanosized Cu particles are present up to Cu content of 18at.%. Catalytic activity appears not simply related to Cu content or Cu surface area. A role of the dispersing oxide matrix on the catalytic activity is hypothesized