Silica-coated LaNiO3 nanoparticles for non-thermal plasma assisted dry reforming of methane: Experimental and kinetic studies

Silica-coated LaNiO3 nanoparticles (LaNiO3@SiO2 NPs) were prepared by the modified Stober method for the conversion of methane with carbon dioxide into syngas in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor (DBD) under ambient conditions. The synergistic effect of LaNiO3@SiO2 NPs and DBD plasma toward the dry reforming of methane was investigated as a function of flow rate of feed gases, input power, and molar ratio of CH4/CO2. The results indicated that the Ni-La2O3@SiO2 produced from LaNiO3@SiO2 NPs showed high catalytic activity for the plasma-assisted dry reforming of methane due to the creation of a silica shell. The Koros-Nowak criterion test demonstrated that the catalytic activity of Ni-La2O3@SiO2 sample was independent of the transport phenomenon. A semi-empirical power-law rate equation was applied to investigate the kinetic behavior of Ni-La2O3@SiO2 catalyst for the plasma-assisted dry reforming of CH4 and evaluate its kinetic parameters, including activation energy, rate constant, and reaction orders. Compared to the activation energy estimated for CO2 consumption, lower value of CH4 conversion corresponded to its higher reaction rate. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.