Abstract: Catalytic generation of hydrogen by the coupling of decomposition and partial oxidation of methanol over Cu/Zn and Cu/Zn/Ni catalysts have been studie d. These Cu-Zn based catalysts show high activity and stability for the partial oxidation of methanol. The catalytic activity and selectivity are affected by t he ratio of O2/CH3OH. The optimum reaction conditions for Cu-Zn catalyst are O2 /CH3OH=0.2, T=523 K. The formation of CuZn alloy was observed in the deactivated Cu/Zn catalysts after methanol decomposition at 523 K for 20 h. On the contrary , no CuZn alloy was found in the used Cu/Zn catalyst after partial oxidation of methanol for 150 h at 523 K. The presented results seem to indicate that the for mation of CuZn alloy is one of the main reasons for the deactivation of Cu-Zn b ased catalysts in methanol decomposition.

Key words: Methanol, Hydrogen, Decomposition, Partial oxidation, Cu/Zn catal yst, 　Cu/Zn/Ni catalyst