Catalyst paper for hydrogen production

Hydrogen has recently attracted much attention as a clean energy source for fuel cell applications, and methanol derived from biomass and its waste is one of the most promising hydrogen-carriers for environmentally symbiotic society. In this study, we successfully prepared the paperlike Cu/ZnO catalyst composites by a papermaking technique with a dual polyelectrolyte system. The catalyst/fiber composite, called catalyst paper, demonstrated a higher performance for H₂ production on methanol steam reforming reaction than did original catalyst powders. Furthermore, the concentration of carbon monoxide acting as a catalytic poison for fuel cell electrodes decreased by half without any CO reduction system. It was indicated that the porous structure of paper composites made great contribution to the reforming efficiency; an increase in the paper void improved both H₂ production and CO reduction. The porous, flexible, easy-handling catalyst papers would be expected as practical catalytic materials for clean H₂ energy production.