Dry reforming of methane over Ni/La2O3 nanorod catalysts with stabilized Ni nanoparticles

This paper describes the design of a Ni/La 2 O 3 catalyst using La 2 O 2 CO 3 nanorod as a support precursor (denoted as Ni/La 2 O 3 -LOC) via a wet impregnation method for dry reforming of methane (DRM). The results showed that La 2 O 3 derived from the La 2 O 2 CO 3 precursor maintained its initial morphology upon thermal treatment and could highly disperse Ni particles on it. Additionally, the nanorod-shaped support could provide more medium-strength basic sites to facilitate CO 2 adsorption and activation on its surface. Consequently, the Ni/La 2 O 3 -LOC catalyst reached 70% of CH 4 conversion and 75% of CO 2 conversion at 700   °C after 50   h DRM reaction with a H 2 /CO ratio of 0.87. The enhanced metal-support interaction restricted the sintering of nickel particles under harsh reaction conditions. Coke evolution on the catalysts was also investigated to understand coke formation mechanism and the role of La 2 O 2 CO 3 in coke elimination. It has been found that nickel dispersion can affect distribution of coke and La 2 O 2 CO 3 on the surface of catalyst, both of which have a close relation with catalytic performance.