ABSTRACT
Hydrogen is the alternative renewable energy source for addressing the energy crisis, global warming, and climate change. Hydrogen is mostly obtained in the industrial process by steam reforming of natural gas. In the present work, CuCrO2 particles were attached to the surfaces of electrospun CeO2 nanofibers to form CeO2-CuCrO2 nanofibers. However, the CuCrO2 particles did not readily adhere to the surfaces of the CeO2 nanofibers, so a trace amount of SiO2 was added to the surfaces to make them hydrophilic. After the SiO2 modification, the CeO2 nanofibers were immersed in Cu-Cr-O precursor and annealed in a vacuum atmosphere to form CeO2-CuCrO2 nanofibers. The CuCrO2, CeO2, and CeO2-CuCrO2 nanofibers were examined by X-ray diffraction analysis, transmission electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscope, thermogravimetric analysis, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller studies (BET). The BET surface area of the CeO2-CuCrO2 nanofibers was 15.06 m2/g. The CeO2-CuCrO2 nanofibers exhibited hydrogen generation rates of up to 1335.16 mL min-1 g-cat-1 at 773 K. Furthermore, the CeO2-CuCrO2 nanofibers produced more hydrogen at lower temperatures. The hydrogen generation performance of these CeO2-CuCrO2 nanofibers could be of great importance in industry and have an economic impact.
ABSTRACT
Hydrogen can be employed as an alternative renewable energy source in response to climate change, global warming, and the energy problem. Methanol gas steam reforming (SRM) is the major method used in industry to produce hydrogen. In the SRM process, the catalyst nature offers benefits such as low cost, simplicity, and quickness. In this work, delafossite copper yttrium oxide (CuYO2) nanofibers were successfully prepared by electrospinning. The prepared CuYO2 nanofibers have different physical and chemical properties including thermoelectric behavior. The electrospinning method was used to produce as-spun fibers and annealed in an air atmosphere to form Cu2Y2O5 fibers; then, Cu2Y2O5 fibers were annealed in a nitrogen atmosphere to form CuYO2 nanofibers. X-ray diffraction studies and thermogravimetric and transmission electron microscope analysis confirmed the formation of CuYO2 nanofibers. The CuYO2 nanofibers were applied to methanol steam reforming for hydrogen production to confirm their catalytic ability. The CuYO2 nanofibers exhibited high catalytic activity and the best hydrogen production rate of 1967.89 mL min-1 g-cat-1 at 500 °C. The highly specific surface area of CuYO2 nanofibers used in steam reforming reactions could have significant economic and industrial implications. The performance of these CuYO2 nanofibers in hydrogen generation could be very important in industries with a global economic impact. Furthermore, the H2 production performance increases at higher reaction temperatures.
