Combination of CO2 reforming and partial oxidation of methane to produce syngas over Ni/SiO2 and Ni–Al2O3/SiO2 catalysts with different precursors

Ni/SiO2 and Ni–Al2O3/SiO2 catalysts were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation using citrate and nitrate precursors and tested with a reaction of combination of CO2 reforming and partial oxidation of methane to produce syngas (H2/CO). The catalytic activity of Ni/SiO2 and Ni–Al2O3/SiO2 greatly depended on interaction between NiO and support. NiO strongly interacted with support formed small nickel particles (about 4 nm for NiSC which is abbreviation of Ni/SiO2 prepared with Nickel citrate precursor) after reduction. The small nickel particles over NiSC catalysts exhibited a good catalytic performance.