Identifying the realistic catalyst for aqueous phase reforming of methanol over Pt supported by lanthanum nickel perovskite catalyst

In-situ supply of H 2 by aqueous phase reforming (APR) of methanol is promising but still challenging due to the unsatisfied activity and stability of catalyst. Herein, we prepared lanthanum nickel perovskite supporting Pt catalysts and evaluated their performance in methanol APR. A transformation from lanthanum nickel perovskite into LaCO 3 OH happened after APR. The characterizations results reveal that these two perovskite catalysts transformed into LaCO 3 OH supporting Pt and NiO x structure. We further prepared Pt-NiO x /LaCO 3 OH catalyst to verify it. Combining with temperature programmed surface reaction, a possible mechanism is proposed. The transformed catalyst possessed more metallic Pt sites and more abundant active OH groups, which are beneficial for methanol decomposition and CO shift, respectively. In addition, although the structure transformation happened for perovskite supporting Pt catalyst, it presented extremely excellent stability with only 7% loss of its highest rate of hydrogen production after 315 h on stream. • High activity and stability of methanol APR were achieved over lanthanum nickel perovskite supporting Pt catalyst. • Structure transformation of Pt/LaNiOx to Pt-NiO x /LaCO 3 OH happened during APR of methanol. • The metallic Pt sites and abundant hydroxyl species were in charge of the excellent performance.