Methane dry reforming over activated carbon supported Ni-catalysts prepared by solid phase synthesis

Abstract

The catalysts for methane dry reforming were commonly confronted with the problems of metal component agglomeration and carbon deposition. The catalysts made by solid-phase synthesis could effectively overcome these problems. In this paper, methane dry reforming was catalyzed over activated carbon supported Ni-catalysts prepared by solid-phase synthesis. Through this method, the catalysts exhibited a uniform metal dispersion over the carrier, with particle size at the nanoscale of 4.69 nm. Catalytic performance of the prepared catalysts was tested, and the results showed that the catalysts could effectively catalyze methane dry reforming, due to little metal agglomeration and the balanced competition between carbon deposition and carbon consumption. In the catalytic performance testing initiated at 900 °C, the conversions of CH4 and CO2 were maintained at 80.3% and 97.5% after the testing, respectively. It was also noticed the syngas generated in the testing process had a favorable H2/CO ratio, at around 1. The syngas was considered to be beneficial to the synthesis of methanol, ammonia and oxygen-containing chemicals by Fischer-Tropsch process. It should be emphasized the reactant gases conversions presented an upward trend when the testing arrived at about 2 h, revealing an enhancement of catalyst activity. In totally, the catalysts prepared by solid-phase synthesis could avoid the agglomeration of active component and the serious carbon deposition, thus slowing down the catalyst deactivation. Through this work, it was demonstrated solid-phase method could open up new possibilities for the synthesis of highly active and stable catalysts for methane dry reforming.