The formation Of Mo2C by the reaction Of MoO3 With carbon Norit in H-2 flow was followed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that the conversion of MoO3 into Mo2C in the surface layer of Norit was complete at 973 K. Mo2C prepared in this way on the surface of carbon Norit was found to be an effective catalyst for the decomposition of ethanol to generate H-2; the extent of the reaction approached 100% even at 623-673 K. Depending on the temperature and the Mo2C loading about 32-62% of hydrogen content of the decomposed ethanol has been converted into H-2. Besides H-2, acetaldehyde was the major product indicating that the dehydrogenation reaction of ethanol is the main process. The formation of CH4, CO, C2H4 and C2H6 also occurred in few percents. Another feature of the Mo2C/Norit catalysts is its high stability. The conversion of ethanol decreased only with few percent even after 75 h at 723 K. Adding potassium to Mo2C/Norit enhanced the catalytic efficiency of Mo2C and increased the formation of hydrogen. Mo2C prepared on multiwall carbon nanotube also proved to be active for the decomposition of ethanol. Adding water to ethanol enhanced the hydrogen production only to a small extent. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.