Nanoparticles of Ce, Sr, Co in and out the multi-walled carbon nanotubes applied for dry reforming of methane

In chemical terms one of the most attractive properties of CNTs is their ability to encapsulate metal nanoparticles and to confine them inside the cavities. In spite of the synthetic difficulties met when trying to access the CNTs cavity, this work aims to synthesize nanocomposites on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), with Ce and Sr nanoparticles inside and Co nanoparticles outside the CNTs, taking the advantage of the fact that Cerium allows the material to act as an oxygen storage. As reference, the Ni@MWCNT/Ni catalyst was prepared. We obtained the insertion of CeSr and Ni particles inside the wall nanotubes with diameters below 30 nm and Co or Ni outside of the carbon nanotubes. These catalysts were characterized by N-2 adsorption (BET), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The activity of the synthesized catalysts was tested through the dry reforming reaction of methane to produce synthesis gas for different temperatures (500-700 degrees C) and showed that the synthesized CeSr@MWCNT/Co exhibited high conversions and very similar to the Ni@MWCNT/Ni catalyst.