Effect of Lanthanum and Iron Doping on Nickel‐Based Alumina and Ceria Supported Catalysts for Steam Reforming of Methane

Abstract Membrane reformers emerge as an efficient technology for ‘on‐site’ ultra‐pure hydrogen production. The membrane reformer can be integrated with PEM fuel cell (PEMFC) to provide power. However, as the PEMFC works at lower temperature hence, such integration requires a low temperature catalyst. Further, for successful integration of membrane reformer with PEMFC, a low CO selective catalyst is vital. In current work, Ni‐based alumina and ceria supported catalysts are used. The effect of La and Fe promoters on the performance of Ni‐based alumina and ceria supported catalysts are investigated. The catalysts are synthesized using wet impregnation method. A complete characterization of catalysts is performed using BET, XRD, FESEM, and EDX. Fe promoted catalysts shows low CO and high CO 2 selectivity which is desirable for membrane reformer. However, the catalytic activity of Fe promoted Ni‐based alumina and ceria supported catalysts were low. La promoted Ni‐based catalysts show high catalytic activity on both alumina and ceria supported catalysts. La promoted catalysts also gives low start up time, high catalytic activity and low CO selectivity at low temperature. Ni−La/Al 2 O 3 catalyst provides 50 % conversion and 12 % CO selectivity at 500 °C. This makes it suitable for ‘on‐site’ generation of ultra‐pure hydrogen through membrane reformer.