Hydrogen Production by Glycerol Steam Reforming with Ru-based Catalysts: A Study on Sn Doping.

N2 Bimetallic Ru-Sn heterogeneous catalysts for glycerol steam reforming (SR) to hydrogen-rich mixtures are developed using organometallic (OM)CVD of commercial metal precursors as the preparation technique of choice. This methodology produces monometallic Ru nanoparticles (NPs) supported on Mg(Al)O mixed oxide with high activity and selectivity for glycerol SR. The effect of tin doping is studied on a set of catalysts with various Sn loadings. Materials produced are characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy(DRIFTS)-quadrupole mass spectrometry (QMS) of adsorbed CO and tested in glycerol SR. At low load, tin is almost selectively deposited on Ru NP faces, and resulting Ru-exposed sites show a higher specific activity than Ru exposed sites in monometallic catalysts.