Boron-modified Ni/Al2O3 catalysts for reduced carbon deposition during dry reforming of methane

•Simultaneous deposition of Ni and B precursors on the γ-Al2O3 support.•Boron alters the electronic environment of nickel ions.•Nickel dispersion is improved in the boron-modified catalysts.•Coking resistance can be greatly enhanced in the NiB(x)/γ-Al2O3 catalysts.•The amount of carbon formed during DRM depends on the Ni0 particles size.

In this work, we investigate the effect of boron introduction into Ni/Al2O3 catalyst, in an effort to suppress carbon formation during the CO2 reforming of CH4 (dry reforming – DRM). A series of NiB(x)/Al2O3 catalysts was prepared by wet co-impregnation. All samples contain 10 wt% Ni while the x = B/(Ni + B) atomic ratio vary in the region 0.0–0.7. The physicochemical properties of the fresh, reduced and used samples were studied by BET, XRD, DRS, TEM, SEM-EDS and H2-TPR. The catalytic performance of these catalysts for the CO2 reforming of CH4 was investigated, and the resilient carbon deposited on the used catalysts was determined by temperature programmed hydrogenation. It was found that the modification of Ni/Al2O3 catalyst by boron can, depending on the B loading, reduce the size of Ni particles and greatly reduce the amount of coke formation during DRM without significantly affecting activity and selectivity.

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