Doping Copper-Zinc Oxide Catalyst with Lanthanum for the Low Temperature Water-Gas Shift Reaction

  • Mr Rothman Kam, Monash University, Australia
  • Dr Wey Yang Teoh, University of New South Wales, Australia
  • Dr Jason Scott, University of New South Wales, Australia
  • Dr Cordelia Selomulya, Monash University, Australia
  • Prof Rose Amal, University of New South Wales, Australia

    • The influence of lanthanum (La) doping on the performance of 37 wt% Cu/ZnO catalysts for the low temperature water-gas shift (LT-WGS) reaction was investigated. The presence of La decreased the support (ZnO) crystallite size as well as Cu (metal) dispersion on the catalyst surface. A 2.3 wt% La loading improved catalyst performance compared with the neat Cu/ZnO system. Beyond this loading the activity decreased substantially. Additionally, 2.3 wt% La acted to considerably stabilize catalyst activity compared with the neat system. The activity and stability findings suggest metallic Cu is not responsible for LT-WGS activity by this catalyst.