Production of hydrogen by catalytic methane decomposition over alumina supported mono-, bi- and tri-metallic catalysts

•Hydrogen production was investigated over iron based Al2O3 supported catalysts.•Effect of doping Ni and Co over Al2O3 supported Fe catalyst was studied.•Maximum hydrogen yield over 15% Co doped 30%Fe/Al2O3 catalyst.•Well-structured nanocarbon was formed during methane decomposition reaction.

Hydrogen, an environmentally benign source of energy, has significantly attracted the attention of researchers in recent decades. This article discusses hydrogen production by methane decomposition over alumina supported iron-nickel-cobalt based mono-, bi- and tri-metallic catalysts. The catalysts were prepared by using wet-impregnation strategy. The fresh catalysts were characterized using different techniques such as BET, H2-TPR, and XRD. Likewise, a morphological study of selected spent catalyst was complemented by employing TEM as well as TPO. The catalytic activity results revealed that bimetallic catalysts consisting of 30 wt.% Fe and 15 wt.% Co exhibited excellent performance among all the tested catalysts. In addition, the results of sensitivity analysis revealed that an activation span of 90 min, GHSV of 5000 mL/h gcat at 700 °C as a reaction temperature were found to be the optimum process conditions. Significantly, it can be seen that in a an extended run of 1400 min involving 12 regeneration cycles, high methane conversion (>55%) can be maintained.