Promotion of the catalytic activity and stability of a Co/SBA-15 catalyst for dry reforming of methane by the addition of rhodium

Abstract

Energy production and environmental issues are two inseparable subjects. Recently, oil and gas exploration and use in energy production are causing more adverse effects on environmental pollution. Many researches are being conducted in order to make them environmentally friendly and to look for sustainable substituent. Synthesis gas and H2 production are gaining more interest nowadays. They are one of the newest proposed solutions, based on the utilization of two broadly accessible gases: carbon dioxide and methane. Dry reforming of methane (DRM) is a great method of producing syngas with a desirable ratio of H2/CO that is close to unity. In addition to the possibility of noble metal usage, cobalt has shown a great activity in this reaction. However, the major problem related to its use is the catalyst deactivation by the carbon deposition that can lead to serious scale-up problems when it comes to industrial application. The aim of different studies done regarding the DRM is to maintain high activity and stability during the entire reaction time, and that is done by varying supports, active phases and/or addition of different promoters. This project is concerned with the study of the Co/SBA-15 catalysts behavior during the DRM process and how this behavior is affected by the addition of rhodium. In this study, we have prepared Co/SBA-15 and Rh-Co/SBA-15 catalysts. These catalysts were characterized by N2 sorption, TEM, TPR and their activity was tested in the dry reforming of methane. It has been shown that the Rh was well dispersed on the Co/SBA-15 catalyst and the catalytic activity and stability were highly promoted by the presence of Rh.