Preparation of Copper Chromite by Vaccum Freezing Drying Method and Its Catalytic Activity for Sulfuric Acid Decomposition

Iodine sulfur (IS) process is one of the most promising routes for massive and CO₂‐free hydrogen production. Among the three reactions IS process composed, decomposition of sulfuric acid is the most energy intensive step and has to be conducted in the presence of catalyst. In this work, copper chromite (CuCr₂O₄) was prepared, characterized, and used as the catalyst for sulfuric acid decomposition reaction. The co‐precipitation preparation method of CuCr₂O₄ which featured in vacuum freezing drying (VFD), was applied, and the main factors which influence the structure of CuCr₂O₄ such as pH values of the co‐precipitation solution and calcination temperature were investigated. Results showed that pH value affected the size of copper chromite granule, when pH was between 7 and 8, the size of prepared CuCr₂O₄ was in nanometer scale. Calcination temperature influenced the purity of the crystal. The samples were characterized by XRD, TEM and BET. The catalytic activity of CuCr₂O₄ prepared by VFD was evaluated and compared with CuCr₂O₄ prepared by usual co‐precipitation method and Pt/Al₂O₃. Results showed that the activity of CuCr₂O₄ was close to that of Pt catalyst, but apparently higher than that of CuCr₂O₄ prepared by usual method. In addition, it presents good stability in the 70 h test. Therefore, it was promising to be used in the sulfuric acid decomposition step of IS process.