Dry reforming of methane on nickel-chrome, nickel-cobalt and nickel-manganese catalysts

Dry reforming of methane was investigated over Ni-based catalysts containing Cr, Mn and Co metals. The materials were synthesized via co-precipitation method and they were calcined at 800 °C in order to obtain the spinel structure NiM2O4. The structural and textural properties were characterized using: XRD, Raman and XPS spectroscopies, BET and SEM-EDX techniques. The reducibility was studied by TPR and HT-XRD techniques under H2 atmosphere. The spinel structure NiM2O4 was confirmed for Ni-Cr and Ni-Mn catalysts by XRD and Raman spectroscopy. In the case of Ni-Co, the results revealed the presence of cobalt oxide Co3O4 with spinel structure and NiO; the NiCo2O4 spinel was not observed. All catalysts were very active in dry reforming of methane with a good H2 selectivity. The best catalytic performance was observed for Ni-Cr system with high CH4 and CO2 conversions (up to 90%), high H2 selectivity (reaching 99%) and with low coke formation (4% of converted CH4).