Ni–Cu based catalysts prepared by two different methods and their catalytic activity toward the ATR of methane

Abstract

This study deals with an investigation of the catalytic performance of a bimetallic system based on Ni and Cu prepared by two different methods. It was found that the oxalate method permits to obtain crystallites with lower dimension compared to the sol–gel method, even after the calcination of powders carried out at the same temperature. Furthermore, the catalytic behavior of the two samples was different. The Ni–Cu prepared by oxalate method showed higher performance and stability than the Ni–Cu prepared by sol–gel in autothermal reforming (ATR) of methane achieving a fuel conversion of about 80%.