Autothermal reforming and partial oxidation of n-hexadecane via Pt/Ni bimetallic catalysts on ceria-based supports

•High yields of H2 were produced via reforming of hexadecane.•Pt/Ni bimetallic nanocatalysts on different ceria-based supported were investigated.•Generally, catalytic performance was enhanced with increasing Pt/Ni ratio.•Strong interaction between Ni and CeO2–ZrO2 was demonstrated.•Low Pt/Ni ratios led to improvement in hydrogen yield on Ni CeO2–ZrO2.

The autothermal reforming and partial oxidation of hexadecane via Pt/Ni bimetallic nanoparticles on various ceria-based supports were investigated. Nanoparticles with Pt/Ni molar ratios ranging from 0/100 to 10/90 were loaded on ceria-based supports including cerium oxide, gadolinium-doped cerium oxide and cerium-doped zirconium oxide. The effect of the Pt/Ni molar ratio and the promotional effect of the support were studied by comparing the hydrogen yield. TPR and XPS analysis showed that there was a strong interaction between Ni and the CeO2–ZrO2 support, which led to the enhancement of catalyst performance when the Pt/Ni ratio was low. In the case of bimetallic catalysts loaded on Gd2O3–CeO2, no significant improvement of the catalytic activity of auto-thermal reforming was achieved until the Pt/Ni ratio reached 10/90.