Influence of synthesis parameters of mesocellular silica foams doped by nickel on methane reforming by CO2

Abstract

New catalysts based on Ni(0) dispersed onto mesocellular silica foams (MCF) were prepared for Dry Reforming of Methane (DRM). Different synthesis methods of MCF supports (with and without using NH4F or n-butanol) were tested in order to study the influence of the textural properties of the support on the catalytic performances of the catalysts. In all cases, nickel was incorporated using the double solvents method. The resulting calcined materials were characterized by N2 sorption, X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy. Their reducibility was tested by temperature-programmed reduction (TPR). Interestingly, particularly large specific surfaces, pores diameters and pores volumes were observed when NH4F was added to the synthesis gel (MCF(N) materials). The corresponding Ni-MCF(N) catalysts were shown to be the most attractive among other prepared samples with respect to their performances in DRM.