Syngas production from CO2 reforming with methane over core-shell Ni@SiO2 catalysts

Ni@SiO2 catalysts with core-shell structure were successfully synthesized by water-in-oil (w/o) micromulsion method. The Ni nanoparticles with diameters around 5 nm were obtained after hydrogen reduction at 750 degrees C. The core-shell Ni@SiO2 catalysts exhibited higher catalytic performance and stability for CO2 reforming with methane reaction than the conventional supported Ni/SiO2 catalysts, which were attributed to the confinement effect of the core-shell structure in limiting the sintering of Ni nanoparticles, the stronger metal-support interaction in stabilizing the catalyst structure and the small Ni nanoparticles in minimizing the carbon deposition on the Ni@SiO2 catalysts. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.