Highly efficient and reusable nanostructured porous Ni/La2O2CO3 tandem catalyst for hydrogen and methane production from subcritical hydrothermal treatment of nitrocellulose

Abstract

Chemical conversion of biomass into fuel gas under subcritical water conditions is a crucial step towards a sustainable and carbon–neutral route for energy storage. However, generation of highly selective gas, such as hydrogen and methane, remains a challenge under such conditions. We present here a reusable tandem catalyst, porous nanostructured nickel-exsolved lanthanum oxycarbonate (Ni/La2O2CO3) for nitrocellulose gasification. Hydrogen (H2) and methane (CH4) production achieves 45.5 % (13.6 mmol) and 9.4 % (2.8 mmol) selectivity, respectively, at 350 ℃, which overwhelms the activity of Raney nickel (41 %,10 mmol and 2.8 %, 0.7 mmol for H2 and CH4, respectively). The study of temperature-dependent structure and the electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy further elucidated the origin of its high catalytic efficacy together with the phase change of the catalyst. The reused catalyst after regeneration retains 55 % of its initial activity after five consecutive tests. This study highlights the Ni/La2O2CO3 catalyst that holds significant potential for selective fuel gas generation from various biomass sources.