Methods of coating ceramic supports with carbon and Ni‐based catalytically active formulations

Nickel‐based catalysts have been widely investigated as they exhibit high activity for reforming reactions, particularly in order to produce syngas. Microwave‐assisted heating is gaining interest as an energy‐efficient heating solution for heterogenous catalytic reactions, and for its exciting prospects related to selective catalyst heating. The objective of this study is to partially or completely coat a fluidizable support with a carbon layer to enhance the support surface reactivity to microwaves, then deposit Ni/Al active species on the carbon‐coated silica surface. This configuration would provide a fine distribution of the catalyst on the surface and an enhanced heating performance with microwaves due to the presence of carbon. The following three synthesis methods have been studied: (a) plasma deposition, (b) hydrothermal synthesis, and (c) coating with organic compounds. The resultant materials have been characterized using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive x‐ray spectroscopy (SEM‐EDXS); specific surface area was determined using the multipoint Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) method and elemental analysis for carbon quantification. The results show that the type of carbon deposited on the surface depends on the preparation method and that the latter is a factor influencing the active particle's deposition. Coating with organic compounds has proven to be the method that provides the best deposition of the active phase, while the hydrothermal technique shows the best carbon surface adherence.