Preparation of Cerium‐Doped Mesoporous γ‐Alumina Supported Nickel Catalysts for Pre–reforming of Liquefied Petroleum Gas under Low Steam to Carbon Ratio

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AbstractCerium‐doped mesoporous γ‐alumina supported nickel oxides (NiO/Ce–γ‐MA) were prepared via one‐pot hydrolysis of inorganic salts without surfactants and applied for pre‐reforming of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) under a low steam to carbon molar ratio of 1.2. Influences of Ce contents on catalyst structure, interaction between Ni species and support, dispersion of nickel species and Ni particle sizes were investigated in detail. The NiO/Ce–γ‐MA materials possessed large surface areas and narrow pore size distributions with homogenously‐dispersed Ni oxide species in the matrices. Upon H2 reduction, uniform Ni crystallites were formed in the γ‐alumina frameworks. The addition of Ce could significantly promote the dispersion of nickel species and lower Ni crystallite sizes, improving the catalytic properties of the reduced Ni/Ce–γ‐MA catalyst. The Ni/Ce–γ‐MA catalyst containing 7 wt% Ce produced the smallest sub‐4‐nm Ni particles, resulting in the most excellent catalytic activity and stability with less than 1 wt% carbon deposition during the 100‐h reaction time for LPG pre‐reforming.