Glow Discharge Plasma-Assisted Preparation of Nickel-Based Catalyst for Carbon Dioxide Reforming of Methane

A plasma-assisted method was employed to prepare Ni/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst for carbon dioxide reforming of methane reaction. The novel catalyst possessed higher activity and better coke-suppression performance than those of the conventional calcination catalyst. To achieve the same CH4 conversion, the conventional catalyst needed higher reaction temperature, about 50 degrees C higher than that of the N-2 plasma-treated catalyst. After the evaluation test, the deactivation rate of the novel catalyst was 1.7%, compared with 15.2% for the conventional catalyst. Different from the characterization results of the calcined catalyst, a smaller average pore diameter and a higher specific surface area were obtained for the plasma-treated catalyst. The variations of the reduction peak temperatures and areas indicated that the catalyst reducibility was promoted by plasma assistance. The dispersion of nickel was also remarkably improved, which was helpful for controlling the ensemble size of metal atoms on the catalyst surface. The modification effect of plasma-assisted preparation on the surface property of alumina supported catalyst was speculated to account for the concentration increase of absorbed CO2. An enhancement of CO2 adsorption was propitious to the inhibition of carbon formation. The coke amount deposited on plasma treated catalyst was much smaller than that on the conventional catalyst.