Highly abrasion and coking-resistance core-shell catalyst for hydrogen-rich syngas production from waste plastics in a two-staged fluidized bed reactor

Abstract The thermochemical treatment of waste plastics to produce H2-rich syngas is a promising technique for both waste management and the regeneration of valuable energy resources. In this paper, we report the synthesis of Ni@CeO2 core–shell catalyst with different shell thicknesses. The H2 production ability of the Ni@CeO2 core–shell catalysts was tested and compared to that of the supported Ni/CeO2 catalyst, and it was determined that the H2 yield of the Ni@CeO2 core–shell catalysts was significantly higher than that of the supported Ni/CeO2 catalyst. Owing to the hollow space between the core and shell providing a reacting space for heterogeneous catalysis, the amount of H2 obtained employing the Ni@CeO2-0.5 catalyst, which was obtained using 0.5 mmol cerium nitrate, was the highest of all analyzed Ni@CeO2 catalysts in this study. The optimal H2 production rate of 730.6 mmol/(h g was obtained at 700 °C when the equivalence ratio (ER) was 0.1.