Cerium-modified Ni-La2O3/ZrO2 for CO2 methanation

Abstract The key point in CO2 methanation is to improve the activity at low temperature and the stability. For this purpose, a new cerium-modified Ni-La2O3/ZrO2 catalyst was prepared using La1-xCexNiO3/ZrO2 with perovskite phase as the precursor, which was obtained by citrate complexation combined with an impregnation method. The resulting catalyst was characterized through Nitrogen adsorption and desorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Hydrogen temperature programmed reduction (H2-TPR), Temperature-programmed desorption of CO2 (CO2-TPD) and that of H2 (H2-TPD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques, and the catalytic performances for CO2 methanation was investigated. Cerium modification could improve the effective activation of CO2, thus enhancing the activity at low temperature for CO2 methanation. The metal Ni nanoparticles prepared using this method were highly dispersed and showed excellent resistance to sintering, leading to very good stability, which could be attributed to the following: Ni nanoparticles could be confined by cerium-modified La2O3; La2O3 could be confined by the cerium ions at the La2O3/ZrO2 interface; and the cerium ions were confined by ZrO2.