Abstract
Heterogeneous catalysis processes are at the very heart of many chemical process technologies employed today. The Water-Gas Shift Reaction (WGSR), which is currently highlighted in the literature, since one of its products, hydrogen gas, occupies a position of utmost importance inside this context of energetic revolution proposed to occur on the 21st century. Despite the existence of a wide range of catalysts for WGRS, none of them still allows commercial implementation of this reaction system in miniaturized models of energy production in an extensive array, such as in vehicle fuel cells, which are one of the great current promises to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this scope, this work proposes the synthesis of a catalytic system for WGSR with a new structural design based on a support consisting of CeO2 and ZrO2 porous nanorods, an even more catalytically active morphology compared to the bulk version due to the increased surface area inside the structure of the pores, to which metallic nanoparticles of gold and rhodium will be attached. Cerium (IV) oxide, CeO2, is a material of low toxicity, low obtention cost, in addition to be obtained in laboratory via a low complexity synthesis, characteristics that altogether set CeO2 as a high potential catalyst to be commercially employed. This oxide exhibits remarkable catalytic activity for the WGSR reaction, especially presented in its nanorod morphology, which has a structure of more vacancies and active structural planes. The integrated chemical systems composed of the metallic nanoparticles attached to the oxide catalytical bed synthesized in this work will be evaluated according to their catalytic activity of hydrogen production, size, operating temperature, morphology, composition, and finally, possibility of a upscale implementation in the application of catalytical systems for the water gas shift reaction. (AU)
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