Advancing Catalyst Design for Energy-Efficient Hydrogen Production

As discussed in my last blog post, the Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) method uses catalysts to selectively capture degradation products (especially NO and NO2) in the Post-Carbon-Capture system. Traditionally, vanadium-based catalysts are widely used for their high efficiency at high temperature range (350–400°C) in industrial plants, as well as their cost-effectiveness compared to expensive precious metals like platinum. This doesn’t mean, however, that effectiveness is meant to demonstrate absolute superiority over other catalysts; rather, it is determined by the objective of using each catalyst in each industry, thereby varying on a case-by-case basis. On top of that, increasing environmental regulations worldwide are compelling industrialists to integrate advanced catalysts to meet compliance requirements, boosting catalyst demand. 

Amid global demands for energy efficiency and stringent environmental regulations, I argue for the development of new catalysts for hydrogen production via natural gas reforming. Natural gas is mostly composed of methane (CH₄), and its reforming is typically carried out using two main methods: Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) and Autothermal Reforming (ATR). Even though both methods can produce high hydrogen yield (3~4 moles per mole of methane in theoretical value), they need high energy to proceed with each reaction above approximately 700 °C, undermining their commercialization. To reduce the substantial energy requirement, I suggest that if a catalyst can lower the energy requirement enough to advance the city gas reforming process to 100-200 °C, the hydrogen energy industry could develop by overcoming the high-temperature barrier that currently limits the scalability and economic feasibility of natural gas reforming, thereby supporting a transition to an eco-friendly society. 

Theoretical and experimental works by Kiani and Wachs, 2024, on ACS Catalysis, showed that the mechanism in which the catalyst is used takes place mainly at the surface-active sites through chemisorption, where the transfer of electrons is important between the adsorbate (reactant or reaction intermediates) and adsorbent (catalyst surface), therby stabilizing the electron transfer process, increasing the probability of interaction, overcoming the reaction barrier, decreasing the activation barrier, and modeling the pathway of reaction rate. 

For this reason, catalysts are indispensable in certain industries that require specific reaction mechanisms that cannot be achieved without them. Here are some industrial fields that require the use of catalysts: 

1.Automotive/Transportation (Catalyst: Vanadium-based, Cu/Fe-zeolite) 

Target: Selectively reduce NOx to N2 gas over a broad temperature range while operating, despite significant temperature differences. 

2. Petroleum refining 

(a) Hydrocracking (Catalyst: NiMo/W-zeolite) 

Target: Selectively break long Carbon-Carbon bonding to make lighter-weighted fuel, such as Gasoline, Diesel. 

(b) Catalytic Reforming (Catalyst: Pt/Re–Al₂O₃ catalysts) 

Target: Convert low-octane naphtha into high-octane gasoline blending components by promoting dehydrogenation and isomerization. 

(c) Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) (Catalyst: CoMo–Al₂O₃, NiMo–Al₂O₃ catalysts) 

Target: Remove sulfur compounds from petroleum feedstock to get ultra-low sulfur gasoline/diesel (less than 10 ppm). 

3. Hydrogen production (Natural Gas Reforming) 

(a) Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) (Catalyst: Ni/Al₂O₃ catalysts) 

Target: Activate strong C-H bonds in methane to produce hydrogen-rich syngas with high conversion efficiency. 

(b) Autothermal Reforming (ATR) (Catalyst: Rh/CeO₂ catalysts) 

Target: work at reaction conditions in which methane is oxidized and reformed to syngas that has a defined H₂/CO ratio. 

(c) Water–Gas Shift (WGS) (Catalyst: CuZnO/Al₂O₃ catalysts) 

Target: Convert carbon monoxide into additional hydrogen by shifting CO to CO₂ + H₂ at moderate temperatures. 

4.Waste-to-resource / Environmental remediation 

(a) Photocatalytic Plastic Reforming (Catalyst: High-entropy oxide (HEO) photocatalysts) 

Target: Convert plastic waste to valuable chemicals and hydrogen fuel through light-based technologies. 

(b) Biomass-to-H₂ Conversion (Catalyst: Zeolite–enzyme hybrid catalysts) 

Target: Hydrolysis and reforming are combined into a single catalytic process to improve biomass conversion efficiency. 

5.Chemical synthesis/Petrochemicals 

(a) General Industrial Synthesis (Catalyst: Heterogeneous supported catalysts) 

Target: Selective transformations with easy catalyst separation (i.e., filtration) and reusability, and long-term process stability. 

(b) Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) (Catalyst: Zeolite Y catalysts) 

Target: Converting heavy oil fractions to gasoline-range hydrocarbons at high temperature with tunable selectivity. 

6.Refining with renewable feedstocks 

(a) FCC Co-processing (Catalyst: Zeolite Y FCC catalysts) 

Target: Co-process bio-oils in conjunction with conventional petroleum feedstocks to yield gasoline-range fuels with minimal refinery modifications. 

(b) Hydrotreating (Catalyst: NiMoS hydrotreating catalysts) 

Target: Deoxygenate bio-oils through hydrogenation to produce stable diesel-like renewable fuels. 

(c) Hydrocracking (Catalyst: NiW/zeolite hydrocracking catalysts) 

Target: Convert co-processed renewable feedstocks into jet-fuel-range hydrocarbons with precise boiling-point control. 

Conclusion 

Comparing 2024 published research on the catalyst to 2025 research, regardless of field, there is an increase in publications. Especially, High-Entropy Catalysts (HEA/HEO), Single-Atom Catalysts(SAC), and the Plastic Waste Reforming field have been mostly addressed recently. The research goal is to increase stability across various environments and to replace the existing catalyst with a lower-cost, lower-energy-use alternative. These trends suggest that catalysts will inevitably become a more important strategy, rather than an auxiliary alternative, as they align with the fundamental engineering question: How can we make a new discovery work reliably, at scale, under constraints (cost, environment, etc)?