A highly active and stable Pt modified molybdenum carbide catalyst for steam reforming of dimethyl ether and the reaction pathway

To improve the stability of molybdenum carbide catalysts in dimethyl ether steam reforming (DSR), the inactivation mechanism and the performance of Pt modified catalyst has been investigated. The Mo2C oxidation induced by H2O is verified to be the main reason of catalytic deactivation. After modified with Pt, the H2 production rate and selectivity are greatly enhanced, reaches 1605 μmol min−1·gcat−1 at 350 °C, in comparison to that of the Mo2C/Al2O3 catalyst. Moreover, the 2%Pt–Mo2C/Al2O3 catalyst is more stable with only 20% activity loss after 50 h on stream compares to the 73% activity loss in 12 h with Mo2C/Al2O3 catalyst. By means of in-situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS), the enhancement brought by Pt is ascribed to the consumption acceleration of intermediate oxygen species on catalyst surface and the decline of onset temperature of DSR reaction. It is expected that these findings can lead us to more practical molybdenum carbide catalysts in DSR.