Effect of micropores on the structure and CO2methanation performance of supported Ni/SiO2catalyst

Abstract

AbstractTwo types of SiO2with different microporosities were evaluated as supports for the Ni/SiO2catalysts. The CO2methanation performance of the catalysts was evaluated, and the structure‐activity relationship was elucidated with thorough characterizations. For the Ni/SiO2catalyst with plenty of micropores, both ultrasmall Ni nanoclusters and larger Ni nanoparticles are present. In contrast, the one with fewer micropores only contains large Ni nanoparticles. During the CO2methanation reaction, CO2can be activated to CO on small Ni nanoclusters and further converted to CH4on larger Ni nanoparticles. Such a tandem catalysis behavior greatly improves the CO2methanation activity. The CH4yield reaches 33.5 μmol·g–1·s–1at 450 °C under 0.1 MPa with a feed H2/CO2mol ratio of 4:1 and a space velocity of 30 L·h–1·g–1. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.