Nickel catalyst supported on mesoporous MgAl2O4 nanopowders synthesized via a homogenous precipitation method for dry reforming reaction

Mesoporous MgAl2O4 nanopowders were synthesized via the homogenous precipitation method and employed as a support for Ni catalysts in the dry reforming reaction. The prepared samples were characterized by XRD, BET, TPR, TPO, NH3-TPD, and SEM techniques. The XRD and BET results revealed that the prepared MgAl2O4 powder exhibited a nanocrystalline structure with high surface area (175 m(2)g(-1)). The catalytic tests, including activity and stability tests, showed that the prepared catalysts with various nickel loadings possessed high activity and stability in reaction. The Ni/MgAl2O4 with the highest amount of Ni had an acceptable performance in a long-term stability test. Increasing nickel loading increased the methane conversion and the amount of deposited carbon. The effects of feed ratio and GHSV on the catalytic activity of the Ni/MgAl2O4 catalyst were investigated in detail.