Influence of composition of MgAl2O4 supported NiCeO2ZrO2 catalysts on coke formation and catalyst stability for dry reforming of methane

Abstract Dry reforming of methane was studied over Ni catalysts supported on γAl 2 O 3 , CeO 2 , ZrO 2 and MgAl 2 O 4 (670 °C, 1.5 bar, 16–20 l CH 4 ml catalyst −1  h −1 ). It is shown that MgAl 2 O 4 supported Ni catalysts promoted with both CeO 2 and ZrO 2 are promising catalysts for dry reforming of methane with carbon dioxide. Within a certain composition range, the simultaneous promotion with CeO 2 and ZrO 2 has great influence on the amount of coke and the catalyst service time. XRD analyses indicate that formation of crystalline Ce x Zr 1− x O 2 mixed oxide phases occurs on double promotion. In particular, incorporation of low amounts of Zr in the CeO 2 fluorite structure provides stable dry reforming catalysis. As shown with TPR, promotion leads to a higher reduced state of Ni. SEM, XRD and TPR analyses demonstrate that highly dispersed, doubly promoted Ni catalysts with a strong metal-support interaction are essential for stable dry reforming and suppression of the formation of carbon filaments.