Metal Supported Catalysts for Preferential Carbon Monoxide Oxidation (CO-PROX)

Dear Colleagues,

A primary challenge facing society is the reduction of atmospheric CO₂. Decarbonization of the energy sector is urgent. To this end, the deployment of hydrogen (H₂) is promising, especially as inlet feeding for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. However, a clean H₂ market is dependent on the further development of renewables and, consequently, most of our current hydrogen production relies on natural gas steam reforming (SR). This method features significant CO co-production, leading to a non-stoichiometric H₂-rich mixture. For uses demanding purity, the resulting reformate stream must be treated in subsequent refinement processes to achieve the CO clean-up required outputs. After SR, implementing a water–gas shift (WGS) reaction reduces the CO content between 0.5% and 2%. This lower limit cannot be further decreased by thermodynamic restrictions. As a result, current large-scale-produced H₂ streams cannot be used directly in PEM fuel cells whose Pt-based electrodes are sensitive to CO poisoning in trace ppm levels. Additional purification steps need to be considered. Since PEM fuel cells are particularly interesting in the transportation sector and in portable applications, the potential miniaturization of the global process is of particular importance when achievable by a suitable catalytic approach.

The preferential CO oxidation (CO-PROX) reaction is widely claimed to be the most promising approach to tackle H₂ purification for fuel cell uses. This Special Issue, “Metal Supported Catalysts for the Preferential Carbon Monoxide Oxidation (CO-PROX)”, aims to cover outstanding recent research and novel trends in the design of efficient heterogeneous catalysis in the CO-PROX reaction. Contributions with relevant insights on the underlying fundamental principles based on original experimental and/or theoretical findings are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Agustín Bueno López
Dr. Arantxa Davó Quiñonero
Guest Editors

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