Understandings of Catalyst Deactivation and Regeneration during Biomass Tar Reforming: A Crucial Review

Value-added chemicals originating from biomass gasification in the presence of advanced catalysts have proved to be promising for valuable chemical generation via deep processing. In the issues of biomass gasification, the deactivation of heterogeneous catalysts is a common problem during the reforming of biomass tar and derived model compounds. Herein, deactivation pathways and regeneration methods are crucial to understand the production of value-added chemicals and guide the design of heterogeneous catalysts during biomass gasification. Unfortunately, to the best of our knowledge, there still has been no review to conclude the recent advances in catalyst deactivation and regeneration. To address the issues mentioned above, in this perspective, common catalysts for biomass tar reforming are first discussed. Then, key features and considerations of catalyst deactivation especially catalyst poisoning and carbon deposition are comprehensively reviewed based on the latest literature reports. Finally, the possible methods of tar elimination, metallic site recovery, and catalyst optimization are reviewed. Meanwhile, the future perspectives toward catalyst design, deactivation, and regeneration in tar reforming are shared. Through this perspective, the existing challenges, solutions, and future strategies in tar reforming or other gas–solid reactions are expected to be made clearer for following research on practical applications on an industrial scale.