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| Author(s): |
Guilherme Gonçalves de Aquino Saglietti
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Master's Dissertation |
| Press: | São Carlos. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Química de São Carlos (IQSC/BT) |
| Defense date: | 2013-05-09 |
| Examining board members: |
Edson Antonio Ticianelli;
Elisabete Moreira Assaf;
Jose Joaquin Linares Leon
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| Advisor: | Edson Antonio Ticianelli |
| Abstract | |
In this work the CO methanation reaction over Ru/C catalyst and its practical applications for use as hydrogen purifier for low temperature fuel cell anodes were studied. Aiming at optimizing the low temperature methane production, two main procedures were proposed: The use of RuxPd(1-x)/C materials and its corresponding thermal treatment of the Ru/C catalyst under wet and reductive atmosphere. The effect of the presence of CO2 was then investigated under the same conditions as for CO in order to establish the catalysts selectivity for the CO methanation in the presence of CO2, as in a real system using syngas. EDX data showed a good agreement between the expected compositions and that actually obtained for catalysts prepared in this work. DRX spectra have indicated the presence of metallic phases, particularly of Ru, and the increase of the material crystallinity, promoted by the thermal treatment. Furthermore, the materials mean crystallite sizes were obtained by the use of the Scherer equation and they resulted around 2,5 nm for all samples. TEM micrographs confirmed the small particle size but also showed a poor material dispersion of the metals over the carbon support, especially in the case of Ru/C. XPS measurements have evidenced the presence of ruthenium species such as Ru(IV), Ru(VII), RuOxHy and Ru.xH2O in the prepared ruthenium material. The thermal treatment only affected the Ru species population, showing more metallic ruthenium and less oxides. The Ru/C and Ru7Pd3/C, prior and after the treatment, were accommodated inside a gas filter, and mass spectrometry investigations indicated that the thermal treatment only increased the methanation performance for the Ru/C catalyst. When used in anodic gas diffusion layer, this improvement was even more pronounced, and resulted in stationary methane production even at 85 °C. The most efficient material for CO methanation was Ru/C thermally treated, that promoted the CO methanation in a preferable way even when CO2 was present with percentages as high as 25%. The increase of the electrochemical performance of the fuel cell with this catalyst in the diffusion layer was better when at 105 °C. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 10/13816-0 - Investigation of the CO Methanation Process on PEMFC Anodes |
| Grantee: | Guilherme Gonçalves de Aquino Saglietti |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Master |