Dry reforming of methane over CeO2 supported Ni, Co and Ni–Co catalysts

•CeO2 supported Ni, Co and Ni–Co catalysts were tested for dry reforming of methane.•Co/CeO2 catalyst exhibited much lower activity than Ni/CeO2 and Ni–Co/CeO2 catalysts.•TEM and reaction data indicate that Co/CeO2 system is more susceptible to the SMSI effect than Ni/CeO2.•The activities of ceria-based catalysts decreased with increasing calcination temperature.

Ceria supported Ni, Co monometallic and Ni–Co bimetallic catalysts were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation method, calcined at two different temperatures (700 °C and 900 °C) and tested for dry reforming of methane reaction at 700 °C. The activities of ceria-based Ni containing catalysts decreased with increasing calcination temperature accompanied by a decrease in coke deposition. While Ni/CeO2 and Ni–Co/CeO2 catalysts exhibited comparable high activities, Co/CeO2 catalysts exhibited very low activity. The lower activity of Co/CeO2 catalyst was attributed to strong metal support interaction (SMSI). The SMSI effect was confirmed with TEM images showing a layer of support coating the metal particles. The diversity of the deposited carbon structures in terms morphology (straight long filaments, highly entangled and curly shaped filaments, filaments with knuckle-like structure and carbon onions) was noted. In addition to the carbon buildup, the deactivation was observed to be due to the loss of active metals in the carbon filaments.

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