Aqueous-phase reforming of phenol over hydrotalcite-derived Ni/Zn/Al catalysts

With the depletion of non-regenerated energy and the increasing awareness of environmental protection, renewable energy developing has become a key subject of research. Hydrogen as a kind of clean energy has aroused much attention. In this study, hydrogen production from bio-oil derived phenolic compound in aqueous phase was studied. Hydrotalcite-derived Ni/Zn/Al catalysts with different metallic compositions were synthesised and screened for aqueous-phase reforming (APR) of phenol. The physiochemical characterisations of hydrotalcite-derived Ni/Zn/Al samples were detected by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and N 2 -sorption. In the calcined hydrotalcite-derived Ni 5.3 /Zn 2.7 /Al samples, most of the metal oxides exist in the form of rock solid and wurtzite type phase. In order to optimise the reaction condition of APR of phenol, the impacts of initial phenol concentration, reaction pressure and reaction temperature during the APR of phenol were investigated. It was found that increasing the concentration of phenol could enhance the side reaction and decrease the selectivity of hydrogen, while enhancing the reaction pressure was not favourable for hydrogen production. Moreover, proper reaction temperature was necessary for APR of phenol to produce hydrogen over hydrotalcite-derived Ni/Zn/Al catalysts.