Influence of calcination temperature on the structure and catalytic reforming performance of Ni/CaO-Al2O3 catalyst

Considering the tunable structure of hydrotalcite-like compounds, co-precipitation method was employed to synthesize Ni/CaO-Al2O3 composite catalysts. The influence of calcination temperature on the structure and catalytic reforming performance of Ni/CaO-Al2O3 catalyst investigated. The results showed that the specific surface area and Ni particle size of the as-synthesized composite catalysts were greatly affected by the calcination temperature of the precursor, which derived from the variable interaction between the Ni and the support. When the calcination temperature was 700°C, the composite catalyst obtained a specific surface area of 21.42 m2/g and Ni particle size of 19.51 nm. The catalytic evaluation showed that the composite catalyst possessed a H2 concentration of 98.31% and a CH4 conversion of 94.87%, and H2 concentration exceeded 97.35% even after 10 cyclic runs. The high catalytic activity was ascribed to the higher specific surface area, which provided more active sites and enhanced CO2 sorption. The smaller Ni particle size improved the anti-sintering capacity of the composite catalyst, endowing the composite catalyst superior stability.