Effect of Support on the Reactive Adsorption of CO from Low CO Concentration Streams on the Surface of Pd Based Catalysts

• Published in: Industrial & engineering chemistry research Vol. 60; no. 51; pp. 18722 - 18738
• Main Authors: Bampos, Georgios, Ramantani, Theodora, Panagiotopoulou, Paraskevi, Verykios, Xenophon E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 29.12.2021
• Subjects: Kinetics, Catalysis, and Reaction Engineering
• ISSN: 0888-5885; 1520-5045
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.1c02710

The influence of the support type (Al2O3, CeO2, ZrO2) on the reactive adsorption of residual CO (<40 ppm) originating from reformate gas mixtures was investigated over Pd-based catalysts in an attempt to eliminate CO to the desired levels for polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells applications. Results showed that the type and physicochemical characteristics of the metal oxide carrier strongly affect the adsorption and desorption characteristics of carbon monoxide, with Pd/ZrO2 catalyst exhibiting optimum performance under both CO/He and CO/CO2/H2/H2O/He flow. Subjection of the catalysts to consecutive cycles of interaction with the reformate mixture and oxidation at 40 °C restricts to some extent the adsorption ability of CO onto the catalyst surface depending on the support type. The results of the present study indicate that both the dispersed metal and the support participate in the proposed process, which can be efficiently applied as a final cleanup step of fuel processors provided that the optimum adsorption conditions and catalyst characteristics are properly selected.