A highly active and stable catalyst for carbon dioxide reforming of methane: Ni/Ce-ZrO2/theta-Al2O3

A novel catalyst, Ni/Ce-ZrO2/theta-Al2O3 has been designed and examined in carbon dioxide reforming of methane. It gives synthesis gas with CH4 conversion more than 97% at 800 degreesC and the activity was maintained during the reaction for longer than 40 h. The high stability of the catalyst is mainly ascribed to the beneficial precoating effect of Ce-ZrO2 resulting in the existence of stable NiOx species, a strong interaction between Ni and the support, and an abundance of mobile oxygen species in itself. From TPR results, it has been confirmed that NiOx formation is more favorable than NiO or NiAl2O4 formation, resulting in strong interaction between Ni and the support.