Samarium-impregnated nickel catalysts over SBA-15 in steam reforming of CH4 process

Promoted Ni/SBA-15 catalysts with varying amounts of Sm promoter (0.5, 1.5, 3 and 6 wt.%) were prepared and employed in steam reforming of methane (SRM) process. The catalysts were synthesized by a two-solvent impregnation method and characterized by low and high angles XRD, BET, TPO, TEM, ED, and FE-SEM techniques. The results demonstrated that increasing in Sm content from 0.5 to 3 wt.% diminished the specific surface area of catalysts from 504 to 371 m(2)/g and decreased the average nickel crystallite size from 31 to 12 nm. The catalytic results exhibited that adding Sm promoter enhanced the catalytic activity from 31% in unprompted catalyst to 70% for 3 wt.% Sm-promoted catalyst. Also, the catalyst with 3 wt.% of Sm possessed the highest H-2 production yield, about 66%. In addition, the TPO, TEM and ED tests revealed the formation of carbon with nanotube nature on the catalyst surface. (C) 2020 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.