Hydrogen production from formic acid
AssigneeEcole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne (Epfl)
InventorsGabor Laurenczy, Céline Fellay, Paul Dyson
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a method of producing hydrogen gas and carbon dioxide in a catalytic reaction from formic acid, said reaction being conducted in an aqueous solution over a wide temperature range and already at room temperature (25° C.). The reaction is advantageous because it can be tuned to take place at very high rates, up to about 90 liter H2/minute/liter reactor volume. The gas produced is free of carbon monoxide. The method of the present invention is particularly suitable for providing hydrogen for a motor, fuel cell or chemical synthesis.
Claims19
A method of producing hydrogen gas and carbon dioxide in a chemical reaction from formic acid, said reaction being conducted:
- in an aqueous solution;
- at a temperature in the range of 15-220° C.;
- in the presence of added formate salt, and,
- in the presence of a catalyst, said catalyst comprising a complex of the general formula (I):
- M(L)n (I)
- in which,
- M is a metal selected from the group consisting of Ru, Rh, Ir, Pt, Pd, and Os;
- n is in the range of 1-4;
- L is a ligand comprising at least one phosphorus atom, said phosphorus atom being bound by a complex bond to said metal, the phosphorus ligand further comprising at least an aromatic group and a hydrophilic group, wherein,
- if n>1, each L may be different from another L;
- and
- wherein the complex of formula (I) optionally comprises other ligands and is provided in the form of a salt or is neutral.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.