Preparation of Ni/MeAl2O4-MgAl2O4 (Me=Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mg) nanocatalysts for the syngas production via combined dry reforming and partial oxidation of methane

Abstract

In this paper, a comprehensive study was conducted on the application of various MeAl2O4 spinels (Me = Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mg) as the catalyst support for the preparation of nickel-based catalysts in the combined dry reforming and partial oxidation. These supports were synthesized by a novel facile sol-gel method using propylene oxide as the gelation agent and nickel was deposited on these supports by the deposition-precipitation method. The prepared samples were characterized by N2 adsorption/desorption, XRD, TPR, TPO, CO2-TPD, SEM, and TEM techniques. In addition, the temperature-programmed methane dissociation (TPMD) was performed to evaluate the effect of nickel-support interaction on the methane dissociation. These characterization results indicated that among the prepared catalyst supports, NiAl2O4 possessed the highest surface area (248 m2/g). The use of this support reduces the active metal size and increases its interaction with the catalyst support, which consequently reduces the amount of deposited carbon on the catalyst surface. The catalytic performance results demonstrated that the nickel catalyst supported on NiAl2O4 showed a 2% increase in activity during the stability reaction, which was due to the reduction of NiAl2O4 spinel during the reaction at high temperature.