Nanoporous nickel oxide catalyst with uniform Ni dispersion for enhanced hydrogen production from organic waste

Abstract

In this report, we propose magnetically separable porous nickel oxide nanostructure with uniform Ni distribution having the large surface area and atomically dispersed Si sites for enhanced hydrogen production from organic waste. The catalyst showed ten times higher production rate from volatiles during carbonization of organic waste and coal than that in the absence of the catalyst. The reduced Ni/NiO catalyst yielded two times higher hydrogen production compared to the traditional Ni/Al2O3 catalyst. The highest yield of hydrogen over reduced Ni/NiO was 32 g/kgfeed at 600 °C in fixed bed reactor via pyrolysis-reforming of bagasse. The Ni/NiO showed far more efficient recyclability compared to traditional Ni/Al2O3. The economic aspect of the Ni/NiO catalyst was compared with the Ni/Al2O3 catalyst based on H2 yield. TGA and TPO analysis confirmed the presence of amorphous coke.