Graphene‐Based Catalysts for Hydrogen Production: Recent Advances in Catalytic Reforming, Current Challenges, and Future Outlook

ABSTRACT

The increasing demand for low‐carbon hydrogen has renewed interest in catalytic reforming as a practical route for H ₂ production. However, conventional reforming catalysts still suffer from major limitations, especially coking, sintering, and loss of active surface area under harsh reaction conditions. Although graphene‐based materials have attracted growing attention in reforming catalysis, previous reviews have usually discussed hydrogen production technologies, reforming catalysts, or graphene‐based catalysis separately. As a result, a focused critical understanding of how graphene structure, surface functionality, and catalyst architecture affect reforming performance is still lacking. This review addresses that gap by critically examining recent advances in graphene‐based catalysts for steam reforming, dry reforming, and related reforming systems for H ₂ production. Particular attention is given to the multiple roles of graphene, including its function as a support, protective layer, templating medium, and electronically active interface. The review discusses how these roles influence metal dispersion, charge transfer, coking resistance, sintering resistance, and long‐term catalyst stability. In addition, the review evaluates key challenges related to catalyst durability, graphene synthesis cost, scalability of catalyst preparation, regeneration, and industrial relevance. Overall, this review provides a more critical and application‐oriented perspective on the design, performance, and future development of graphene‐based reforming catalysts for sustainable hydrogen production.