Characterization and activity in dry reforming of methane on NiMg/Al and Ni/MgO catalysts

Dry reforming of methane has been investigated on two series of catalysts either prepared by co-precipitation: n(NixMgy)/Al, NixMgy and NixAly or prepared by impregnation: Ni/MgO (mol% Ni = 5, 10). The catalysts, calcined at 600–900 °C, were characterized by different techniques: BET, H2-TPR, TPO, XRD, IR, and TEM-EDX analysis. The surface BET (30–182 m2 g−1) decreased with increasing the temperature of calcination, after reduction and in the presence of Mg element. The XRD analysis showed, for n(NixMgy)/Al catalysts, the presence of NiAl2O4 and NiO–MgO solid solutions. The catalyst reducibility decreased with increasing the temperature of pretreatment. The n(NixMgy)/Al catalysts were active for dry reforming of methane with a good resistance to coke formation. The bimetallic catalyst Ni0.05Mg0.95 (calcined at 750 °C and tested at 800 °C) presents a poor activity. In contrast, the 5% Ni/MgO catalyst, having the same composition but prepared by impregnation, presents a high activity for the same calcination and reaction conditions. For all the catalysts the activity decreased with increasing the temperature of calcination and a previous H2-reduction of the catalyst improves the performances. The TPO profiles and TEM-EDX analysis showed mainly four types of coke: CHx species, surface carbon, nickel carbide and carbon nanotubes.