Catalysts in coronas: a surface spatial confinement strategy for high-performance catalysts in methane dry reforming

One of the grand challenges in industrial catalytic processes is the inevitable sintering and aggregation of conventional supported catalysts to large particles, leading to the decrease of activity and even deactivation with time. Herein, a unique surface spatial confinement strategy was employed to design high-performing catalysts for the dry reforming of methane (DRM). Specifically, active nickel (Ni) nanoparticles (NPs) were confined on the surface of a dendritic mesoporous silica (DMS) in the form of the “catalysts in coronas.” The Ni/DMS catalyst exhibited a high catalytic performance close to its equilibrium conversion (76% conversion for CH4 at 700 oC). More importantly, the prepared catalyst remained stable after 145 h time-on-stream at 700 oC without noticeable carbon deposition. This sintering and coking resistance was found to arise from a unique surface spatial confinement effect in which the three-dimensional dendritic layers in the corona posted a steric barrier against migration and aggrega...