A new Gd-promoted nickel catalyst for methane conversion to syngas and as an anode functional layer in a solid oxide fuel cell

Abstract

The effect of lanthanide promoters on a Ni–Al 2O 3 catalyst for methane partial oxidation, steam reforming and CO 2 reforming at 600–850 °C is systematically investigated. The promoters include La 2O 3, CeO 2, Pr 2O 3, Sm 2O 3 and Gd 2O 3. GdNi–Al 2O 3 shows comparable catalytic activity to LaNi–Al 2O 3 and PrNi–Al 2O 3 but higher activity than CeNi–Al 2O 3 and SmNi–Al 2O 3 for all three reactions. The O 2-TPO results show that GdNi–Al 2O 3 possesses the best coke resistance among those tested. It also displays good stability at 850 °C for 300 h. Raman spectroscopy indicates that the addition of lanthanide promoters can reduce the degree of graphitization of the carbon deposited on Ni–Al 2O 3. The GdNi–Al 2O 3 is further applied as an anode functional layer in solid-oxide fuel cells operating on methane. The cell yields peak power densities of 1068, 996 and 986 mW cm −2 at 850 °C, respectively, for operating on methane–O 2, methane–H 2O and methane–CO 2 gas mixtures, which is comparable to operating on hydrogen fuel. GdNi–Al 2O 3 is promising as a highly coking-resistant catalyst layer for solid-oxide fuel cells.