Thermocatalytic decomposition of methane over mesoporous nanocrystalline promoted Ni/MgO·Al2O3 catalysts

Abstract

Thermocatalytic decomposition of CH4 is an interesting method for the production of hydrogen. In this article, the catalytic and structural properties of the La, Ce, Co, Fe, and Cu-promoted Ni/MgO·Al2O3 catalysts were investigated in the thermal decomposition of CH4. Mesoporous MgO·Al2O3 powder with the high BET area (>250 m2/g) was synthesized by a novel and simple sol–gel method. The different instrumental methods (XRD, BET, SEM, H2-TPR and TPO) were used for evaluating the physicochemical characteristics of the samples. The addition of Cu to Ni/MgO·Al2O3 dramatically improved the catalytic performance and the Cu-promoted catalysts exhibited the highest CH4 conversion and H2 yields among the promoted and unpromoted catalysts. The Cu-promoted catalyst possessed the highest stability in CH4 conversion during 10 h of reaction. The results also indicated that the Ni–Cu/MgO·Al2O3 catalyst with 15 wt.% Cu showed the highest catalytic activity and stability at higher temperatures (>80% CH4 conversion).