Preparation and characterization of mesoporous nanocrystalline La-, Ce-, Zr-, Sr-containing NiAl2O3 methane autothermal reforming catalysts

•Preparation of mesoporous nanocrystalline La, Ce, Sr and Zr doped γ-Al2O3 powders.•The novel and simple solid state method was employed for preparation of powders.•The promoted Ni catalysts has high potential in autothermal reforming.•The catalysts exhibited high resistance against carbon formation.•Ce-promoted catalyst exhibited the highest activity among the prepared catalysts.

The promotion effect of La, Ce, Sr and Zr on the catalytic and structural properties of nanocrystalline mesoporous γ-Al2O3 supported Ni catalysts was investigated in autothermal reforming of methane. Mesoporous nanocrystalline γ-Al2O3 powder and promoted ones with high specific surface area (>220 m2/g) were prepared by solid state reaction method and employed as the support for nickel catalysts. The prepared catalysts were subjected to autothermal reforming reaction and characterized by XRD, BET, DR-UV-Vis, TPR, TPO and SEM techniques before and/or after the reaction. The effect of experimental conditions, such as temperature was investigated on the catalysts. Ce promoted catalyst, containing small amounts of CeO2 as a separate phase, was found the most effective catalyst between both promoted and unpromoted ones.