Stable Ni/Al2O3 catalysts for methane dry reforming -: Effects of pretreatment

To obtain insight into the effect of metal-support interactions in the CO2 reforming of CH4, a series of alumina-supported nickel catalysts were prepared by calcination of the catalyst precursors in air at different temperatures. The increase in the intensity of Ni-Al2O3 interactions with the calcination temperature was found to be unfavorable to the reduction of the catalyst. However, the catalyst with strong Ni-Al2O3 interactions suppressed carbon deposition effectively, which can be attributed to the formation of spinel, NiAl2O4, after calcination. When the reaction was carried out at temperatures higher than 973 K, all the catalysts tended to exhibit equilibrium activity.