Efficient Hydrogen Production from Aqueous-Phase Methanol Reforming Enabled by Cu-Glu/AZ Catalysts

Hydrogen, with its zero-carbon nature, represents an ideal sustainable secondary energy alternative. Despite its promise for the hydrogen economy, the aqueous-phase reforming of methanol (APRM) continues to face the primary challenge of developing efficient and stable catalysts. Herein, we present a Cu-Glu/Al2O3–ZnO catalyst and investigate its structure-performance relationship through various characterization techniques. A unique core–shell structured catalyst is constructed, consisting of carbon-encapsulated nanoparticles (8.6 nm) that are evenly dispersed on an Al2O3–ZnO support. The catalyst exhibits outstanding activity at 210 °C, with a hydrogen production rate of 51.8 μmol/gcat/s, H2 selectivity of 99.95%, and CO selectivity of 0.05%. Furthermore, it demonstrates excellent durability, with no significant deactivation observed over six consecutive reaction cycles under hydrothermal conditions. In situ DRIFTS and characterization reveal that Cu species catalyze both methanol dehydrogenation (*CH3OH → *CH3O → *CH2O → *HCOOH) and water dissociation (*H2O → *H + *OH), which collectively promote efficient H2 production in APRM.