Nickel hybrid nanoparticle decorating on alumina nanoparticle cluster for synergistic catalysis of methane dry reforming

Abstract

A gas-phase controlled synthesis method is demonstrated to prepare Ni-CeO2 nanocrystallites decorating on Al2O3 nanoparticle clusters (NPC) for synergistic catalysis of dry reforming of methane with CO2 (DRM). The method combines the principles of aerosol-phase evaporation-induced self-assembly with colloid-phase stabilization of Al2O3 nanoparticles in sprayed aqueous droplets. Hybrid NPC was successfully created with ultrafine Ni crystallites (<7 nm), tunable chemical composition, cluster size and surface state. A superior high catalytic performance achieved in comparison to the results reported in the literatures: low starting temperature (400 °C), high turnover frequency (2.6 s−1 at 550 °C; 4.0 s−1 at 700 °C), and high selectivity (H2/CO = 0.9). Hybridization with Al2O3 NPC and CeO2 nanoparticle significantly improved operation stability of Ni catalyst over 8-h reaction. The work demonstrates a facile route for gas-phase synthesis of hybrid nanocatalysts using Al2O3 NPC as support matrix for effective low-temperature operations of DRM.