Preparation adjacent Ni-Co bimetallic nano catalyst for dry reforming of methane

[Display omitted] •A new strategy for preparing highly dispersed catalysts is proposed.•Ni-Co are closely adjacent in the micro droplets.•Ni-Co alloy synergistic realization of high efficiency catalysis.•Catalytic interfacial carbon–oxygen balance eliminates coking. Catalytic reforming for hydrogen production is a bridge to sustainable energy. Coking is a big challenge for the industrialization of DRM. The key is to maintain a balance between the formation rate of *C and that of *O. A novel preparation strategy of Ni-Co nano alloy catalysts was proposed with microemulsion coupling with antisolvent extraction strategy.The prepared nanoparticles were highly dispersed and Ni,Co were closely adjacent. Compared with the monometallic 10Ni0Co/SiO2 catalyst and 0Ni10Co/SiO2 catalyst, the as-prepared bimetallic 5Ni5Co/SiO2 nano alloy catalyst showed the best catalytic activity. On the monometallic 10Ni0Co/SiO2 catalyst, owing to the faster cracking of methane on Ni particles, the catalytic activity decreased 10% by coking during the 50 h test. However, 0Ni10Co/SiO2 catalyst was deactivated by the oxidation of Co. In the 100 h test of 5Ni5Co/SiO2 bimetallic catalyst, the catalytic activity remained stable. TPSR showed that the dissociation of methane and the generation of *C was slightly inhibited and the activation of CO2 was intensified. More activated *O enhanced the reaction of *C or *CHx and *O. The anti-coking performance was improved. The results provide implications for anti-coking catalysts for catalytic reforming.