Ultra-stable porous yolk-shell Ni catalysts for the steam reforming of methane with alkali poisoning

Hydrogen, a clean energy carrier, can be produced from renewable sources such as biomass and waste, but it is needed to develop new catalysts with high resistance against impurities. Ni/Al2O3 yolk-shell catalysts were prepared by different procedure for the steam reforming of methane reaction with alkali poisoning. Yolk-shell (ys) and porous yolk-shell (pys) materials were synthesized using a spray pyrolysis process. The physicochemical and structural properties of the prepared catalysts on the reaction performance and alkali resistance were investigated. All the yolk-shell catalysts exhibited high resistance to carbon deposition. The Ni/pys-Al2O3 catalyst showed the highest CH4 conversion and the best stability at a gas hourly space velocity of 932,492 mL center dot g(-1)center dot h(-1) even upon exposure to alkali hydroxide vapor. It also showed strong resistance to sintering, whereas the structures of the ys-Ni-Al2O3 and Ni/ys-Al2O3 catalysts were relatively degraded under the same conditions.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates that Ni/Al2O3 yolk-shell catalysts have high resistance against alkali poisoning and exhibit excellent carbon deposition resistance. Among them, the Ni/pys-Al2O3 catalyst shows the highest methane conversion and the best stability at a high gas hourly space velocity.