Autothermal reforming of heavy-hydrocarbon fuels by morphology controlled perovskite catalysts using carbon templates

A novel synthesis of morphology-controlled perovskite networked with LaCr_0.8Ru_0.2O₃ nanoparticles was introduced using activated carbons as sacrificial templates. These catalysts were used for the hydrogen production by heavy-hydrocarbon autothermal reforming. To investigate the effect of the carbon templates, morphology-controlled perovskites using activated carbons and a non-templated catalyst were prepared to determine how carbon templates influence the chemical structure of the perovskite. The carbon templates produced a crystalline structure with the well incorporation of Ru under mild calcination conditions. The morphology of the hollow fibers provided a higher specific surface area than that of the porous grain catalyst with a similar average particle size (∼80 nm). It was found that the hollow fibers showed a unique pore structure with large macropores from 1 to 100 μm, which might offer a higher surface area and enhanced mass transfer of the reactants. This provided a higher activation energy for H₂ production than the porous grain and non-templated catalysts during the autothermal reforming of heavy hydrocarbons. As a result, the fibrous feature and well-defined chemical structure were crucial factors when cracking the hydrocarbon chain. The hollow fiber catalyst showed high reforming efficiency for H₂ production (>65 mol%) from heavy-hydrocarbon fuels during long-term experiments, featuring substantial durability with low carbon deposition and no structural changes.