Catalytic decomposition of methane to COx-free hydrogen and carbon nanotubes over Co-W/MgO catalysts

Bimetallic catalysts containing a series of Co/W at 40/10, 30/20, 20/30 and 10/40 wt% supported on MgO with a total metal content of 50 wt% were prepared and used for the catalytic decomposition of methane to COx-free hydrogen and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The solid fresh and exhausted catalysts were characterized structurally and chemically through XRD, TPR, BET, TGA, TEM and Raman spectroscopy. The 40%Co-10%W/MgO catalyst exhibited the highest activity for the production of both hydrogen and MWCNTs. The formation of a large amount of non-interacted Co3O4 species is considered as the main reason for the catalyst superiority in its activity. On the contrary, catalysts formulations of 20%Co-30%W and 10%Co-40%W demonstrated the formation of a large amount of hardly reducible CoWO4 and MgWO4 particles causing lower activity of these catalysts toward methane decomposition as evidenced through the XRD and TPR results.