Promotional effect of Gd over Ni/Y2O3 catalyst used in dry reforming of CH4 for H2 production

Hydrogen is renewable, ecofriendly, lightweight, high combustion efficiency and zero-emission fuel. Dry reforming of methane is the growing technology for producing hydrogen. In this study, dry reforming of methane was conducted over Ni/Y2O3 catalyst calcined at different temperatures. The effect of activation temperature and time to get the optimized catalytic performance was investigated. A maximum hydrogen yield of (82.8%) was achieved at 800 °C calcination, 800 °C activation and reaction temperature at 700 °C. To suppress the extent of carbon deposition, the promoting effect of Gd was studied. It was observed that even a small amount of Gd promoter (1 wt%) could reduce the carbon formation mechanism significantly. CO2-TPD results showed that Gd-promoted catalysts have a very high basicity when compared to non-promoted Ni/Y2O3 catalyst. The formation of carbon nanotube over spent catalyst was observed in the HRTEM analysis.