Attapulgite-based titanosilicate zeolite-supported Ni catalyst for hydrogen production from catalytic steam reforming of toluene

Catalytic steam reforming for hydrogen production was a viable tar removal technology. The key issue of catalytic steam reforming of toluene (tar model) for hydrogen production (CSRT) was the devise and development of advantageous catalysts. In this work, attapulgite-based titanosilicate zeolite (ATS) supported Ni-based catalysts was prepared and applied into CSRT. In addition, compared with the attapulgite (ATP), attapulgite-derived silicon source (HTP) and commercial TiO2, the effects of four different supports over the catalytic performance of Ni-based catalysts for CSRT were further investigated. The structural characteristics of the prepared catalysts were revealed by various characterization methods. Amongst, N/ATS appeared the highest toluene conversion (90.71%) and H2 yield (63.57%) during 4 h of CSRT reaction, which mainly attributed to its highest surface Ni0 molar ratio. Additionally, N/ATS revealed unique resistance to carbon deposition under harsh reaction conditions. This was mainly due to the synthesized ATS had larger BET and the highest hierarchical factor (HF) of pore structure which better promoted mass and heat transfer and its unique nanocluster assembled lamellar structure better anchoring the Ni metal and inhibited sintering, while its superior dispersion of weak acidic sites resulted in less carbon deposits. This work provided a probability for the preparation of economical attapulgite-based heteroatom zeolite to support Ni for hydrogen production via steam reforming of biomass-based oxygenates.