Dry Reforming of Methane for Syngas Production Over Well-Dispersed Mesoporous NiCe_0.5Zr_0.5O₃ with Ni Nanoparticles Immobilized

Abstract

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_0.5Zr_0.5O₃. The TEM observation confirmed a homogeneous dispersion of NiO nanoparticles within the mesopores, and the XRD presented a high crystallinity of NiCe_0.5Zr_0.5O₃ 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_0.5Zr_0.5O₃ among the NiCe_xZr_1-xO₃ (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_0.5Zr_0.5O₃ 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 (CH₄ 94.0 & CO₂ 97.2 %), minimal carbon formation, and outstanding catalytic performance at different WHSVs.

Graphical Abstract

A series of NiCe_xZr_1-xO₃ catalysts were prepared and the optimal synthesis ratio of Ce/Zr is 1:1 based on the characterization results. NiCe_0.5Zr_0.5O₃ presents a few features such as mesoporous structure, highly dispersed NiO, large surface area, and small crystallized sizes. DRM reaction experiments also prove NiCe_0.5Zr_0.5O₃ has remarkable catalytic performance.