Decomposition of methane with an autocatalytically reduced nickel catalyst

Abstract

Thermal decomposition of nickel acetate ( T > 300 °C ) dispersed on either silica or cordierite supports resulted in a mixture of Ni 0/NiO that was catalytically active for the decomposition of methane to produce CO-free hydrogen, without the need for any pretreatment (i.e., using H 2 at high temperature (>500 °C) for at least 2 h). The carbon yield (g C/g Ni) for the catalysts supported on SiO 2 ( ∼ 200 – 300 m 2 /g) increased with an increase in the catalyst NiO mean crystallite size. XRD and FE-SEM studies confirmed the formation of graphitic-type carbon filaments during the methane decomposition.