Combined steam and CO2 reforming of methane over Co–Ce/AC-N catalyst: Effect of preparation methods on catalyst activity and stability

Abstract An appropriate preparation method is the essential to improve the catalyst performance. In this study, Co–Ce/AC-N catalysts were fabricated on N-doped activated carbon supports by impregnation, sol-gel, precipitation and mix methods, respectively. It was used to catalyze the combined steam and dry reforming of methane (CSDRM). The effects of different preparation methods on the catalyst performance were investigated by means of N2 adsorption-desorption, XRD, H2-TPR, TEM, CO2-TPD, FTIR and XPS. Compare with the catalysts prepared by other methods, the catalyst prepared by impregnation exhibits a large surface area, high active metal dispersion, and strong metal-support interaction. Meanwhile, it also has strong basic sites and abundant oxygen vacancies. These greatly improve the activity and stability of the catalyst. The conversions of CH4 and CO2 at 650 °C were achieved 71.6% and 64.4%, and H2/CO was retained at 1.5.