CO2 reforming of CH4 over a highly active and stable NiMgAl catalyst

Although the catalytic systems containing the NiOMgO solid solution possess excellent catalytic performance in CO2 reforming of CH4 reaction, a serious drawback was that the higher than 10 wt% Ni loadings would increase the burden on the environment and finance. A NiMgAl catalyst with 3 wt% Ni loadings derived from a hydrotalcite precursor was prepared in order to study the CO2 reforming of CH4 reaction. For comparative purpose, a NiOMgO catalyst and a Ni/γ-Al2O3 catalyst containing NiAl2O4, were also synthesized. Analysis showed that the NiMgAl catalysts had high catalytic activity due to the improved reducibility which was caused by the presence of Al3+ ions in the NiOMgO cubic lattice. Moreover, the NiMgAl catalyst showed ultra-stability without carbon formation for 320 h period due to the small Ni particles and the suitable Ni-support interaction which effectively prevented the sintering of Ni particles.