Dry Reforming of Methane for Syngas Production Over Well-Dispersed Mesoporous NiCe0.5Zr0.5O3 with Ni Nanoparticles Immobilized

• Published in: Catalysis letters Vol. 146; no. 9; pp. 1663 - 1673
• Main Authors: Yuan, Weijian, Wang, Yuqi, Zou, Yongqiang, Tan, Wei, Hou, Wenqing, Zheng, Lan, Wu, Feng, Zhou, Lifa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.09.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Carbon; Catalysis; Catalysts; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Crystallization; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Methane; Nanoparticles; Nickel oxides; Organometallic Chemistry; Physical Chemistry; Reforming; Synthesis gas; Zirconium; Ce; Mesoporous structure; Ni-incorporated catalyst; Zr; High dispersion; Dry reforming of methane; O
• ISSN: 1011-372X; 1572-879X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10562-016-1791-9

Ni incorporated catalysts with different ratios of Ce/Zr were prepared via a one-pot surfactant assisted Pechini method, and dry reforming of methane was used to evaluate their performances. The prepared catalysts were characterized by nitrogen adsorption–desorption, XRD, SEM, TEM and TGA. The nitrogen physisorption analysis witnessed the distinctive mesoporosity of NiCe 0.5 Zr 0.5 O 3 . The TEM observation confirmed a homogeneous dispersion of NiO nanoparticles within the mesopores, and the XRD presented a high crystallinity of NiCe 0.5 Zr 0.5 O 3 within relatively smaller particle size. After 6 h dry reforming of methane in a fixed-bed reactor, the minimal carbon deposition was detected on the used NiCe 0.5 Zr 0.5 O 3 among the NiCe x Zr 1-x O 3 (x = 0.1, 0.5, 0.9) catalysts, and XRD result also indicates nano-sized NiO particle on the fresh catalyst will be of great benefit to the resistance of carbon formation. The mesoporous structure of NiCe 0.5 Zr 0.5 O 3 was achieved at Ce/Zr = 1:1 and NiO particles incorporated in the pore were also clearly observed based on the characterization results. The catalytic evaluation experiments prove its remarkable initial activity (CH 4 94.0 & CO 2 97.2 %), minimal carbon formation, and outstanding catalytic performance at different WHSVs. Graphical Abstract A series of NiCe x Zr 1-x O 3 catalysts were prepared and the optimal synthesis ratio of Ce/Zr is 1:1 based on the characterization results. NiCe 0.5 Zr 0.5 O 3 presents a few features such as mesoporous structure, highly dispersed NiO, large surface area, and small crystallized sizes. DRM reaction experiments also prove NiCe 0.5 Zr 0.5 O 3 has remarkable catalytic performance.