Ni3Al Intermetallics catalyst for hydrogen generation from methanol

Hydrogen is attracting much attention as a clean and efficient energy source. In Ni-Al system there are four stable intermetallic compounds, NiAl₃, Ni₂Al₃, NiAl, and Ni₃Al. Among them a mixture of NiAl₃ and Ni₂Al₃ (Ni-50 wt% Al) is used as a precursor alloy for Raney nickel catalysts: the Raney nickel catalysts are produced from the precursor alloy by leaching aluminum in a concentrated NaOH solution. For NiAl and Ni₃Al, very limited studies have been carried out on the catalytic properties. The catalytic activity and stability of single-phase Ni₃Al (Ni-24 atom % Al) powder for hydrogen production from methanol at 513-633 K was studied. The alkali-leached Ni₃Al powders showed a high catalytic activity and stability for the methanol decomposition. The rate of hydrogen production increased rapidly with increasing reaction temperature. The Ni₃Al catalysts suppressed the formation of methane and waster gas shift reaction, i.e., they showed higher selectivity for methanol decomposition than nickel catalysts. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the AIChE Annual Meeting and Fall Showcase (Cincinnati, OH 10/30/2005-11/4/2005).