One‐step production of CO‐ and CO2‐free hydrogen from biomass

The reaction between a biomass (cellulose, sucrose, glucose, starch, cotton, or Japanese paper) and NaOH in the presence of water vapor produced pure hydrogen without CO and CO₂ at temperatures in the range 473–623K. The addition of Ni/Al₂O₃ or Rh/Al₂O₃ catalyst to cellulose enhanced the production of hydrogen at <573 K. The reaction between cellulose and NaOH can be written as: C₆H₁₀O₅ + 12NaOH + H₂O = 6Na₂CO₃ + 12H₂. The reactivities of alkali metal hydroxides were: KOH > NaOH ? LiOH. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry