Production of hydrogen using nanocrystalline protein-templated catalysts on m13 phage.
For decades, ethanol has been in use as a fuel for the storage of solar energy in an energy-dense, liquid form. Over the past decade, the ability to reform ethanol into hydrogen gas suitable for a fuel cell has drawn interest as a way to increase the efficiency of both vehicles and stand-alone power generators. Here we report the use of extremely small nanocrystalline materials to enhance the performance of 1% Rh/10% Ni@CeO(2) catalysts in the oxidative steam reforming of ethanol with a ratio of 1.7:1:10:11 (air/EtOH/water/argon) into hydrogen gas, achieving 100% conversion of ethanol at only 300 degrees C with 60% H(2) in the product stream and less than 0.5% CO. Additionally, nanocrystalline 10% Ni@CeO(2) was shown to achieve 100% conversion of ethanol at 400 degrees C with 73% H(2), 2% CO, and 2% CH(4) in the product stream. Finally, we demonstrate the use of biological templating on M13 to improve the resistance of this catalyst to deactivation over 52 h tests at high flow rates (120 000 h(-1) GHSV) at 450 degrees C. This study suggests that the use of highly nanocrystalline, biotemplated catalysts to improve activity and stability is a promising route to significant gains over traditional catalyst manufacture methods.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Brian
B
Neltner
Brian
B
Peddie
Alex
A
Xu
William
W
Doenlen
Keith
K
Durand
Dong Soo
DS
Yun
Scott
S
Speakman
Andrew
A
Peterson
Angela
A
Belcher
D017104:Bacteriophage M13 / Q000737:chemistry*; D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources; D002384:Catalysis; D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000737:chemistry*; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods; D010316:Particle Size; D013499:Surface Properties; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*
D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D014764:Viral Proteins; D000431:Ethanol; D006859:Hydrogen