CO2 reforming of CH4 over nanocrystalline zirconia-supported nickel catalysts

Mesoporous nanocrystalline zirconia with high-surface area and pure tetragonal crystalline phase has been prepared by the surfactant-assisted route, using Pluronic P123 block copolymer surfactant. The synthesized zirconia showed a surface area of 174 m2 g−1 after calcination at 700 °C for 4 h. The prepared zirconia was employed as a support for nickel catalysts in dry reforming reaction. It was found that these catalysts possessed a mesoporous structure and even high-surface area. The activity results indicated that the nickel catalyst showed stable activity for syngas production with a decrease of about 4% in methane conversion after 50 h of reaction. Addition of promoters (CeO2, La2O3 and K2O) to the catalyst improved both the activity and stability of the nickel catalyst, without any decrease in methane conversion after 50 h of reaction.