One-pot synthesis of Ni-nanoparticle-embedded mesoporous titania/silica catalyst and its application for CO2-reforming of methane

Ni-nanoparticle-embedded mesoporous titania/silica catalyst was successfully synthesized in a one-pot process using homogeneous impregnation in sol–gel-derived titanium-silica gel, without any other organic additives and/or templating agents. The catalyst with NiO loading of 10 wt% and TiO2/SiO2 (wt) of 50:50 is highly catalytic active and stable for CO2 reforming of methane and its physicochemical properties were investigated by means of BET, H2-TPR, XRD, TEM and TG/DTA techniques, respectively. Under the condition of an atmospheric pressure at 850 °C and a gas hour space velocity (GHSV) of 1.8×104mlh-1gcat-1, the conversion of CH4 and CO2 over 10 (wt%) NiO/TiO2–SiO2 (50:50) catalyst remained almost constant, at about 88% and 97%, for 30 h, respectively. The high activity and stability are attributed to the strong metal-support interactions, such as in Ni2.44Ti0.72Si0.07O4.