Molten salt-promoted Ni–Fe/Al2O3 catalyst for methane decomposition

Abstract

Bimetallic Ni–Fe/Al2O3 catalysts were prepared by the molten salt method, and the catalytic performance of the Ni–Fe/Al2O3 catalysts with the KCl–NiCl2 melt for methane decomposition was evaluated at 800 °C. The catalysts and carbon products were characterized by XRD, SEM/EDS, XRF and Raman spectroscopy techniques. The results show that molten salt-promoted Ni–Fe/Al2O3 catalysts exhibit high activity and long-term stability up to 1000 min time on stream without any deactivation. The carbon products over the molten salt-promoted Ni–Fe/Al2O3 catalysts are in the form of small granular particles instead of filamentous carbon for the catalyst without molten salt. The promotional effect of the molten salt may attribute to the higher wettability of the Fe–Ni alloy by molten salt, which can prevent the catalysts from deactivation due to carbon encapsulation.