Monolithic Ni-MOx/Ni-foam (M = Al, Zr or Y) catalysts with enhanced heat/mass transfer for energy-efficient catalytic oxy-methane reforming

A series of monolithic nickel-foam-structured Ni-MOx(M = Al, Zr or Y) binary catalysts to be used in the catalytic oxy-methane reforming have been developed, of which the Ni-MOx catalysts are formed in-situ and embedded onto the Ni-foam struts by chemically etching Ni-foam using solution containing Al (or Zr, Y) nitrate. Among these catalysts, Ni-Al2O3/Ni-foam possesses the largest specific surface area and the highest amount of NiO species (i.e., Ni active site precursors), and as a result, exhibits the best catalytic performance with promising stability. Over this catalyst, CH4 conversion of 86.4% can be obtained with H-2 selectivity of 96.6% and CO selectivity of 912% for a fed of CH4/O-2 (2/1) at 700 degrees C and a high gas hourly space velocity of 100 L g(-1)h(-1). We anticipate our assay to be a new point which might stimulate commercial exploitation of the new-generation structured catalyst technology for the high-throughput catalytic oxy-methane reforming reaction. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.