Morphology-Controlled CeO2 Support for Optimizing the Performance of Pt/CeO2 Catalyst for Methanol Steam Reforming to Produce Hydrogen: An Integrated Exploration from Research to Teaching
Translating cutting-edge scientific research achievements into comprehensive teaching experiments is an important practice of research feeding back to teaching. This study designed an undergraduate-level comprehensive experiment focused on "Pt catalyst supported on morphology-controlled CeO2 support", where students investigated the effect of CeO2 support morphology (particles (P), rods (R), cubes (C), and octahedrons (O)) on metal-support interactions and catalytic performance in methanol steam reforming (MSR). The experiment adopted a collaborative group-learning mode, where students independently completed the synthesis, characterization, and performance evaluation of catalysts, systematically improved skills in material preparation, characterization analysis, and data processing. Results demonstrated that the Pt catalyst supported on rod-shaped CeO2 (Pt/CeO2-R) exhibited superior catalytic performance due to its strong metal-carrier interaction and high oxygen vacancy concentration, with high hydrogen production activity and low CO selectivity. This experiment not only strengthened students' theoretical understanding of the"structure-performance relationship"in heterogeneous catalysis, but also cultivated team collaboration and innovative thinking through research-driven inquiry, furthermore effectively stimulated students' interest in material design and catalytic research, and provided a scalable case for experimental teaching in science and engineering.
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