Enhanced catalytic behaviour of surface dispersed nickel on LaCuO3 perovskite in the production of syngas: An expedient approach to carbon resistance during CO2 reforming of methane

Perovskite oxide LaCuO3 and LaCu0.53Ni0.47O3 were prepared using the sol-gel citrate method, whereas 5% NiO/LaCuO3 was prepared by impregnation. The products obtained, after heat treatment under air at 800 °C, were characterized by several techniques such as: thermogravimetric analysis (TG), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method (BET) and temperature programmed reduction (TPR). After reduction, the catalysts were evaluated in the reforming of methane reaction under continuous flow with CH4/CO2 ratio equal to 1, at atmospheric pressure and a temperature range [500-700 °C]. The catalytic activity was tested in a fixed bed reactor. At 700 °C, the amount of CH4 consumed was in its lowest in the presence of LaCuO3 whereas the amount of CH4 conversion increased to 60% in case of LaCu0.53Ni0.47O3 precursor. The best results were obtained using 5% NiO/LaCuO3 precursor, whereby the amount of CH4 consumed augmented by 16.5% compared to that of LaCu0.53Ni0.47O3.