Hydrogen production over ternary supported Ni/Al2O3-clinoptilolite-CeO2 nanocatalyst via CH4/CO2 reforming: Influence of support composition

Abstract

The effect of Al2O3-Clinoptilolite-CeO2 support with different Al2O3 and clinoptilolite contents used in Ni-based Nano catalysts are studied for enhancing catalyst production costs by replacing Al2O3 with clinoptilolite. The nanocatalysts are characterized by XRD, BET, FESEM, FTIR and EDX techniques and tested for dry reforming of methane. With addition of alumina the specific surface area, NiO dispersion, surface morphology and catalytic activity of the samples are improved. However, the addition of clinoptilolite reduces specific surface area, increases crystallite size, and improves the crystallinity. CeO2 as a support promoter has positive impact on surface morphology and improves NiO particles size and activity. The Ni/Al2O3-CeO2 nanocatalyst has the best activity, highest specific surface area, proper NiO species dispersion and flat surface morphology. However, the results of Ni/Al2O3(60%)-Clinoptilolite(30%)-CeO2(10%) nanocatalyst in terms of catalytic performance and characterizations are so close to the results of the outstanding nanocatalyst (Ni/Al2O3-CeO2). Assessing similar feed conversions at high temperatures over both mentioned nanocatalysts are one of the important outcomes of this research. However, the most important result of this study is the reduction of 30 wt % of alumina consumption with achieving same results to the Ni/Al2O3-CeO2 nanocatalyst.