Abstract: Formic acid (FA) is a non-toxic by-product of biomass cellulose hydrolysis used for production of levulinic acid. We showed for the first time that Al2O3 is a better support than MgO, CeO2, ZrO2 and La2O3 supports to stabilize active Au species for hydrogen production from FA decomposition and doping of the Au catalyst with potassium ions leads to a considerable improvement of the catalytic performance. Thus, a 3 wt.% Au/Al2O3 catalyst with 3 wt.% of K is an effective and stable (>26 h) catalyst for the FA decomposition at low temperature (<360 K). It provides CO free hydrogen production. The K-doping effect could be explained by the presence of K+ ions in FA liquid condensed in the catalyst’s pores, which stabilize formate ions in the solution providing a different mechanism of FA conversion through these ions as compared to the undoped catalyst.

Cite: Zacharska M. , Bulushev D.A. , Estrada M. , Guo Y. , Beloshapkin S.A. , Kriventsov V.V. , Leahy J. , Simakov A.V.
Gold Catalysts for CO-Free Hydrogen Production from Formic Acid Derived from Biomass
EuropaCat-XII: 12th European Congress on Catalysis “Catalysis: Balancing the use of fossil and renewable resources” 30 Aug - 4 Sep 2015