CO2 Reforming of Methane Over Nickel Catalysts Supported on La-Doped MCF

In this work, a new kind of heterostructured mesoporous materials (x%La 2 O 3 –MCF) for supporting nickel nanoparticles was developed by surface modification of mesoporous cellulous foam silica (MCF) with La 2 O 3 in a monolayer/submonolayer state through an in situ growth method in order to make use of the advantages of mesoporous structure of MCF and basic sites of La 2 O 3 at the same time. Nickel catalysts supported on these materials (Ni/x%La 2 O 3 –MCF) were prepared by impregnation method. The received mesoporous materials possessing predominant textural properties and thermal stabilities were investigated as catalysts for the carbon dioxide reforming of methane, exhibiting not only high activity but also good stability after a steady-state reaction for 10 h. The influence of La 2 O 3 loadings on the performance of Ni/x%La 2 O 3 –MCF catalysts to the carbon dioxide reforming of methane was studied in this paper, and it was found that with La 2 O 3 wt% = 10%, the Ni-based catalyst Ni/10%La 2 O 3 –MCF showed the highest activity, and exhibited superior stabilization. Several technologies were used to characterize the catalysts, such as transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction patterns, physisorption of N 2 , X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, carbon dioxide temperature programmed desorption and so on. The relationship between physicochemical properties of catalysts and catalytic performances has been investigated in detail. Graphical Abstract A new kind of heterostructured mesoporous materials (x%La 2 O 3 –MCF) for supporting nickel nanoparticles was developed by surface modification of MCF with La 2 O 3 in a monolayer/submonolayer state. The received mesoporous materials were investigated as catalysts for the carbon dioxide reforming of methane, exhibiting not only high activity but also good stability after a steady-state reaction for 10 h.