Insights into Cu–Amorphous Silica–Alumina as a Bifunctional Catalyst for the Steam Reforming of Dimethyl Ether

Abstract

The steam reforming of dimethyl ether (SRD) has been proved to be one of the most promising routes for on-site H2 production. However, the two-step consecutive nature of the SRD reaction makes the design of an efficient bifunctional catalyst a challenge. Herein, a series of Cu incorporated into amorphous silica–alumina (Cu–ASA) as integrated bifunctional catalysts for SRD were synthesized by the single-step complex decomposition method, and ammonium carbonate was confirmed to be an effective complex agent for dispersing Cu in ASA. The results indicated that the initial conversion of dimethyl ether and a H2 yield higher than 90% were achieved at 300 °C over the optimal catalyst. More importantly, a slightly decreased SRD performance with increasing time-on-stream was mainly caused by Cu sintering, and the synergetic effect between ASA and Cu played a crucial role in determining the activity, hydrogen yield, and stability of the integrated Cu–ASA bifunctional catalyst for SRD. These findings are helpful to develop a high-performance integrated bifunctional catalyst for the SRD reaction.