Catalytic methanation of syngas over Ni-based catalysts with different supports

Co-precipitation method was selected for the preparation of Ni/Al_2O_3, Ni/ZrO_2 and Ni/CeO_2 catalysts, and their performances in methanation were investigated in this study. The structure and surface properties of these catalysts were characterized by BET, XRD, H_2-TPD, TEM and H_2-TPR. The results showed that the catalytic activity at low temperature followed the order: Ni/Al_2O_3>Ni/ZrO_2>Ni/CeO_2. Ni/Al_2O_3 catalyst presented the best catalytic performance with the highest CH_4 selectivity of 94.5%. The characterization results indicated that the dispersion of the active component Ni was the main factor affecting the catalytic activity and the one with higher dispersion gave better performance.

Improved activity of Ni-Mo/SiO_(2) bimetallic catalyst synthesized via sol-gel method for methylcyclohexane cracking

To improve the cracking behavior of hydrocarbon,Ni-Mo/SiO_(2) bimetallic catalysts were synthesized by different preparation methods(sol-gel,co-impregnation and single-impregnation) and added the additives(citric acid,polyethylene glycol and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) based on the most suitable method above.The cracking reaction of methylcyclohexane under supercritical conditions was performed as the probe reaction to estimate the catalytic performance,and the properties of Ni-Mo/SiO_(2) catalyst were characterized by N_(2) absorption-desorption,XRD,XPS,H_(2)-TPR,NH_(3)-TPD,in-situ IR of NH_(3) desorption,HRTEM and STEM-mapping so as to study the structure-activity relationship.The catalyst synthesized via sol-gel method showed the best conversion and heat sink,being 81.8% and 3.81 MJ/kg,which was closely related to strong mutual effect between active components and SiO_(2) as well as strong acid sites.Besides,the introduction of additives by sol-gel method has an affirmative influence on properties of Ni-Mo/SiO_(2) catalysts,being that the acidity(more L and B acid sites) was modulated and organic groups interact with metal to suppress the aggregation of metal species(Ni and Mo),thereby enhancing the catalytic activity.At 750℃,the conversion(89.3%) as well as heat sink(3.99 MJ/kg) of MCH cracking obtained an optimum over Ni-Mo/SiO_(2) catalyst with addition of citric acid.

A Novel Processing Route for Ni-doped Alumina Composites

Alumina-based composites containing 0-15wt% Ni metallic phase were produced by hot press-sintering Ni-coated alumina powders. The Ni-coated alumina powders were prepared by the aqueous heterogeneous precipitation of alumina micro-powders and nickel sulfate salt followed by reduction process. The microstructural features and dispersion of Ni phase in Ni-coated alumina powders and the subsequent alumina-Ni cermets were investigated using scanning electron microscope （SEM）, X-ray diffractometer （XRD）, and transmission electron microscope （TEM）. The relative density of the hot press-sintered composites was measured with the Archimedes＇ method while the fracture strength and the fracture toughness were defined with the three-point bending method and the micro-indentation fracture method. In the formation of alumina-Ni cermets from sintered Ni-coated alumina powders, Ni phase to some extent limits the densification rate and stifles the coarsening and growing process of alumina grains. The Ni phase is found to be located at the interfaces and the triple-joint junctions of alumina grains which results into alteration of the fracture mode of alumina and its increased fracture strength and fracture toughness if compared with monolithic alumina.