Sustainable H2 production from ethanol steam reforming over a macro-mesoporous Ni/Mg-Al-O catalytic monolith

A macro-meso-porous monolithic Ni-based catalyst was prepared via an impregnation route using polystyrene foam as the template and then used in the steam reforming of ethanol to produce a H2-rich gas. The Ni/Mg-A1 catalyst has a hierarchically macro-meso-porous structure as indicated by photographs and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The surface area of the catalyst was 230 m2＂ g 1 and the Ni dispersion was 5.62%. Compared to the pelletized sample that was prepared without a template, the macro-meso-porous Ni/Mg-A1 monolith exhibited superior reactivity in terms of H2 production and also had lower CH4 yields at 700~C and 800℃. Furthermore, the monolithic catalyst maintained excellent activity and H2 selectivity after 100-h on-stream at 700℃, as well as good resistance to coking and metal sintering.