Influence of Pd Particle Synthesis and ZnO Morphology on PdZnO Methanol Steam Reforming Activity

1
Influence of Pd Particle Synthesis and ZnO
Morphology on Pd/ZnO Methanol Steam Reforming
Activity
Patrick D. Burton University of New Mexico Center
for Micro-Engineered Materials PI Dr. Abhaya
Datye
Research Goal Synthesize Pd nanoparticles and
deposit on various ZnO facets and morphologies
to study the catalytic activities of the
resultant Pd/ZnO catalysts. Payoff Improve
Pd/ZnO catalysts by ultimately determining the
role of ZnO
Figure 1. Typical structure of ZnO.
Figure 2. Methanol conversion data for different
catalysts.
Approach Use different types of ZnO (including
Aldrich ZnO, Alfa ZnO, ZnO plates, and etched
ZnO) to make Pd/ZnO catalysts via incipient
wetness technique Characterize the catalysts
using SEM, TEM, XRD, BET, and methanol steam
reforming
Results -Uniform Pd particles were deposited
onto supports -Pd on etched ZnO showed poor
activity -Pd on faceted ZnO (1010) surfaces have
the best activity at 5 loading -Pd on faceted
ZnO (0001) surfaces have good activity only at a
high loading -Selectivity was not greatly
affected by type of ZnO support