Mechanism of the effect of metal species and loading order on the carbon deposition activity of Ni-based catalysts in toluene reforming

The influence of metal species and their locations within carbon deposition on their activities is a valuable contribution to the theoretical foundation for the development of new high-activity anti-deposition catalysts. The study demonstrate that Ni-Ce and Ni-Fe catalysts exhibit superior activity and anti-carbon deposition properties in comparison to monometallic Ni-based catalysts. The placement of carbon nanotubes on Ni-Fe catalysts and Ni-Mg catalysts resulted in a significant loss of activity due to the coverage of nanotubes. The catalytic activity of each bimetallic Ni-based catalyst with metal post placement was found to be higher, with the post- Ce catalyst exhibiting the greatest activity at 90.11%. The metal dispersion was enhanced, which CeO 2 , MgO, and Fe 3 O 4 were observed to act as pro-dispersive and redox agents on the Ni-based catalysts. This paper proposes a mechanism to elucidate the impact of metal species and their position within the carbon deposition during toluene reforming. It also provides a theoretical foundation for the thermal conversion and sustainable development of biomass.