Controlling activity and selectivity using water in the Au-catalysed preferential oxidation of CO in H₂

Industrial hydrogen production through methane steam reforming exceeds 50 million tons annually and accounts for 2-5% of global energy consumption. The hydrogen product, even after processing by the water-gas shift, still typically contains â 1/41% CO, which must be removed for many applications. Methanation (CO⁺ 3H₂ CH₄⁺ H₂ O) is an effective solution to this problem, but consumes 5-15% of the generated hydrogen. The preferential oxidation (PROX) of CO with O₂ in hydrogen represents a more-efficient solution. Supported gold nanoparticles, with their high CO-oxidation activity and notoriously low hydrogenation activity, have long been examined as PROX catalysts, but have shown disappointingly low activity and selectivity. Here we show that, under the proper conditions, a commercial Au/Al₂ O₃ catalyst can remove CO to below 10 ppm and still maintain an O₂-to-CO₂ selectivity of 80-90%. The key to maximizing the catalyst activity and selectivity is to carefully control the feed-flow rate and maintain one to two monolayers of water (a key CO-oxidation co-catalyst) on the catalyst surface.