Hydrogen Production from Catalytic Steam Reforming of Bio-Oil: Recent Advances in Coke Resistance

Catalytic steam reforming of bio-oil has emerged as an efficient, environmentally friendly, and economic approach for the production of green hydrogen, which is of great interest as a promising energy carrier in renewable energy systems, owing to its high energy density and zero-pollution emission. However, the steam reforming performance, in terms of hydrogen yield and catalytic stability, has been severely affected by catalyst deactivation due to the inevitable coke formation. This review offers a comprehensive overview of the mechanism of bio-oil steam reforming and the formation of carbonaceous deposits, accompanied with their compositions and locations. Most importantly, recent advances made in the development of coke-resistant steam reforming catalysts have been carefully discussed, with an emphasis on alleviation strategies toward the inhibition of coke formation and enhancement in hydrogen production, thereby affording deeper insights of the structure-function relationships. The challenges and future prospects are further discussed.