Viability of Au/CeO2-ZnO/Al2O3 catalysts for pure hydrogen production via WGS

The production of H2 pure enough to use it in fuel cells requires the development of very efficient catalysts for the WGS reaction. In this study a series of gold catalysts supported on ZnO-promoted CeO2Al2O3 is presented as interesting systems for the purification of H2 streams via WGS. The addition of ZnO remarkably promotes the activity of a Au/CeO2/Al2O3 catalyst. This increase in activity is mainly associated to the enhanced OSC exhibited for the Zncontaining solids. Not only high activity but also good stability and resistance towards start-up/shut-down situations was found making these catalysts a promising alternative for CO-clean up applications.