Ni–Zn–Al-Based Oxide/Spinel Nanostructures for High Performance, Methane-Selective CO2 Hydrogenation Reactions

In the present study, NiO modified ZnAl 2 O 4 and ZnO modified NiAl 2 O 4 spinel along with pure Al 2 O 3 , ZnAl 2 O 4 and NiAl 2 O 4 for comparison in the CO 2 hydrogenation reaction have been investigated. It was found that NiAl 2 O 4 , NiO/ZnAl 2 O 4 and ZnO/NiAl 2 O 4 catalysts exhibited outstanding activity and selectivity towards methane even at high temperature compared to similar spinel structures reported in the literature. NiO/ZnAl 2 O 4 catalyst showed CO 2 consumption rate of ~ 19 μmol/g·s at 600 °C and ~ 85% as well as ~ 50% of methane selectivity at 450 °C and 600 °C, respectively. The high activity and selectivity of methane can be attributed to the presence of metallic Ni and Ni/NiO/ZnAl 2 O 4 interface under the reaction conditions as evidenced by the XRD results. Graphic Abstract High performance Ni–Zn–Al-based oxide/spinel nanostructures is synthesized and NiO/ZnAl 2 O 4 catalyst exhibited higher catalytic activity in the CO 2 hydrogenation reaction due to the presence of metal support interaction between Ni and ZnAl 2 O 4 support.