Dry reforming of methane over La2O2CO3-modified Ni/Al2O3 catalysts with moderate metal support interaction

The modulation of the interaction between the active metal and the underlying support material plays a key role and remains a challenge in many important catalytic reactions. This paper describes a new method for the modification of Ni/Al 2 O 3 by La 2 O 2 CO 3 , which is responsible for modulating the interaction between Ni and the Al 2 O 3 support. When La 2 O 2 CO 3 is loaded on the Al 2 O 3 support as a La 2 O 3 precursor, combined with XRD, H 2 -TPR, H 2 -pluse chemisorption, Raman spectroscopy and TEM characterization, it is found that La 2 O 2 CO 3 can prevent Ni from entering the alumina support and forming NiAl 2 O 4 . This strategy allows more Ni to be reduced and exposed as active sites. Consequently, the La 2 O 2 CO 3 modified Ni/Al 2 O 3 exhibited superior activity with respect to the reference La 2 O 3 modified Ni/Al 2 O 3 and original Ni/Al 2 O 3 in dry reforming of methane (DRM). At the same time, La can cover the acidic sites of alumina and increase the alkalinity of the catalyst, thereby promoting carbon dioxide adsorption and activation, and inhibiting carbon deposition. In addition, the introduction of La also inhibits the sintering of Ni under harsh reaction conditions by enhancing the interaction between Ni metal and the support. This modification method can simultaneously improve the reactivity and stability of the catalyst by altering the interaction between the metal and the support.