A highly dispersed nickel supported catalyst for dry reforming of methane

The modification of silica support using ethylene glycol (EG) significantly modified surface properties of silica support, resulting in the decreased decomposition temperature of impregnated nickel nitrate and the enhanced metal-support interaction. The catalyst prepared by modified silica support realized excellent stability and two times higher catalytic activity than the catalyst obtained from non modified silica support in dry reforming of CH4, since its highly dispersed supported nickel and strong nickel-silica interaction. The properties of silica supports, catalyst precursors and catalysts were characterized by TG-DSC, FT-IR, XRD, H-2 chemisorption, O-2 titration, TPR and TEM. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.