Investigation on the Effect of Highly Active Ni/ZrO2 Catalysts Modified by MgO‐Nd2O3 Promoters in CO2 Methanation at Low Temperature Condition

Abstract

AbstractTo improve the catalytic activity of CO2 methanation at low reaction temperature, four Ni‐based precursors with different auxiliaries were prepared by sol‐gel composite impregnation method. The CO2 methanation of the catalysts after hydrogen reduction were tested in a fixed bed quartz reactor at 200–450 °C. The properties of the catalysts were further characterized by BET, XRD, H2‐TPD, CO2‐TPD, H2‐TPR, XPS, SEM, TGA and TEM‐EDS. The Ni‐based catalysts followed an activity order of Ni‐MgO‐Nd2O3/ZrO2>Ni‐MgO/ZrO2>Ni‐Nd2O3/ZrO2>Ni/ZrO2, especially at temperatures below 400 °C. By establishing the correlation between the catalytic performance and structure of the catalyst, it was found that the mixing of Mg, Nd and Ni metal ions in the ZrO2 lattice results in high dispersion of Ni nanoparticles and good interaction between metal oxides. The composite doped Ni‐based catalysts show good catalytic performance and stability for CO2 methanation.