Promotional effect of magnesium oxide for a stable nickel-based catalyst in dry reforming of methane

Ahmed S Al-Fatesh,Anis H Fakeeha,Ahmed A Ibrahim,Abdulaziz Bagabas,Rasheed Arasheed,Rawesh Kumar,Samsudeen O Kasim,Ahmed I Osman,Jyoti Khatri,Mahmud S Lanre,Ahmed E Abasaeed,Muhamad Alabdulsalam

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-70930-1

Abstract

The generation of synthesis gas (hydrogen and carbon monoxide mixture) from two global warming gases of carbon dioxide and methane via dry reforming is environmentally crucial and for the chemical industry as well. Herein, magnesium-promoted NiO supported on mesoporous zirconia, 5Ni/xMg–ZrO2 (x = 0, 3, 5, 7 wt%) were prepared by wet impregnation method and then were tested for syngas production via dry reforming of methane. The reaction temperature at 800 °C was found more catalytically active than that at 700 °C due to the endothermic feature of reaction which promotes efficient CH4 catalytic decomposition over Ni and Ni–Zr interface as confirmed by CH4–TSPR experiment. NiO–MgO solid solution interacted with ZrO2 support was found crucial and the reason for high CH4 and CO2 conversions. The highest catalyst stability of the 5Ni/3Mg–ZrO2 catalyst was explained by the ability of CO2 to partially oxidize the carbon deposit over the surface of the catalyst. A mole ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide near unity (H2/CO ~ 1) was obtained over 5Ni/ZrO2 and 5Ni/5Mg–ZrO2, implying the important role of basic sites. Our approach opens doors for designing cheap and stable dry reforming catalysts from two potent greenhouse gases which could be of great interest for many industrial applications, including syngas production and other value-added chemicals.

Highlights

IntroductionThe generation of synthesis gas (hydrogen and carbon monoxide mixture) from two global warming gases of carbon dioxide and methane via dry reforming is environmentally crucial and for the chemical industry as well
The generation of synthesis gas from two global warming gases of carbon dioxide and methane via dry reforming is environmentally crucial and for the chemical industry as well
Asencios and Assaf loaded Ni and Mg with different ratios on zirconia support by wet impregnation method and found out that catalyst with 20 wt% Ni and 20 mol% Mg has the best performance, where the activity was less than 80% in the oxidative reforming of methane[49]

Summary

Introduction

The generation of synthesis gas (hydrogen and carbon monoxide mixture) from two global warming gases of carbon dioxide and methane via dry reforming is environmentally crucial and for the chemical industry as well. The production of syngas (a mixture of H 2 and CO) through dry reforming of methane is an excellent strategy to reduce the global warming effects of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) Noble metals such as palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), and ruthenium (Ru) have been used for this purpose, but costly precursors and instability of catalyst, at high reaction temperature around 800 °C, have limited their application[1]. Asencios and Assaf loaded Ni and Mg with different ratios on zirconia support by wet impregnation method and found out that catalyst with 20 wt% Ni and 20 mol% Mg has the best performance, where the activity was less than 80% in the oxidative reforming of methane[49]. A very fine-tuning, among catalytic activity and characterization results were performed; this will help to better understand the surface behaviour towards syngas production from dry reforming of methane

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Discussion

Conclusion