Co-production of hydrogen and carbon nanofibers from catalytic decomposition of methane over LaNi(1−x)Mx O3−α perovskite (where M = Co, Fe and X = 0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, 1)

•LaNi(1−x)MxO3−α (M = Co and Fe) are promising catalyst precursor for CDM reaction.•Maximum H2 and carbon yields were obtained using LaNi0.8Fe0.2O3−α catalyst.•Carbon nano-tube was produced during CDM over the reduced LaNi(1−x)CoxO3−α.•Carbon nano-chain was produced during CDM over the reduced LaNi(1−x)FexO3−α.

In this work, LaNi(1−x)Mx O3−α (where M = Co, Fe and X = 0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, 1) perovskite have been successfully used as catalyst precursors for catalytic decomposition of methane (CDM). LaNi0.8Fe0.2O3−α and LaNi0.8Co0.2O3−α perovskite exhibited better catalytic performance in terms of hydrogen and carbon nanofibers yields during CDM reaction as compared to LaNiO3 perovskite, which can be attributed to the formation of the smaller and more uniform catalyst particles. Moreover, the reduced LaNi(1−x)FexO3−α perovskite also produces filamentous carbons with “chain–like structure” which is different from the filamentous carbons with “tube–like structure” produced from the reduced LaNiO3 and LaNi(1−x)CoxO3−α perovskite. This is due to the different growth mechanisms of those filamentous carbons over the different catalysts. More particularly, chain–like structure filamentous carbons were produced through “pulse–growth mechanism” over the reduced LaNi(1−x)FexO3−α perovskite, whereas tube–like structure filamentous carbons were produced through “smooth–growth mechanism” over the reduced LaNiO3 and LaNi(1−x)CoxO3−α perovskite.

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