Dry Reforming of Methane over NiLa-Based Catalysts: Influence of Synthesis Method and Ba Addition on Catalytic Properties and Stability

CO2 reforming of CH4 to produce CO and H2 is a traditional challenge in catalysis. This area is still very active because of the potentials offered by the combined utilization of two green-house gases. The development of active, stable, and economical catalysts remains a key factor for the exploitation of natural gas (NG) with captured CO2 and biogas to produce chemicals or fuels via syngas. The major issue associated with the dry reforming process is catalyst deactivation by carbon deposition. The development of suitable catalyst formulations is one strategy for the mitigation of coking which becomes especially demanding when noble metal-free catalysts are targeted. In this work NiLa-based catalyst obtained from perovskite precursors La1−xBaxNiO3 (x = 0.0; 0.05; 0.1 and 0.2) and NiO/La2O3 were synthesized, characterized by in situ and operando XRD and tested in the dry reforming of methane. The characterization results showed that the addition of barium promoted BaCO3 segregation and changes in the catalyst structure. This partly affected the activity; however, the incorporation of Ba improved the catalyst resistance to deactivation process. The Ba-containing and Ba-free NiLa-based catalysts performed significantly better than NiO/La2O3 catalysts obtained by wet impregnation.