Methane Steam Reforming on Supported Nickel Based Catalysts. Effect of Oxide ZrO₂, La₂O₃and Nickel Composition

The catalytic properties of Ni (4 and 10 wt%) supported on both La2O3 and ZrO2 were investigated for the methane steam reforming reaction between 475℃ and 700℃ at atmospheric pressure. The catalysts were prepared by the impregnation method and characterized by several techniques (atomic absorption, BET method, X-ray diffraction and TG-TPO). The catalytic activity of Ni/support systems strongly depends on both of the nature and physico-chemical properties of the support. No deactivation was observed in catalytic systems, whatever the reaction temperature indicating high stability of the catalyst.

Methane Steam Reforming on Supported Nickel, Effect of Nickel Content for Product Hydrogen

The steam reforming of methane over NiO/ZnO mixed oxides with different nickel contents was studied. Solids to x% Ni/ZnO (x = 4 and 10%) were deposited on ZnO by impregnation from nickel nitrate solution;after vaporization the solid is calcined at 500°C for 6 h. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and BET method, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and temperature programmed reduction (TPR). The XRD patterns revealed the NiO phase for all calcined catalysts. The chemical analysis confirmed the theoretical values of nickel. The catalysts were pre-treated under hydrogen at 500°C in situ, overnight before testing for the steam reforming of methane reaction (CH4/H2O/Ar = 10/10/80) in the temperature range (475°C - 650°C) under atmospheric pressure. The activities of both catalysts were investigated in a fixed-bed reactor for the Methane Steam Reforming (MSR) reaction. Globally, it was shown that the catalyst 10% nickel content has an important effect on the catalytic performances of solids i.e. the better results of hydrogen production were obtained with 10% wt. Ni/ZnO (28 ′ 10-3 mol/g catalyst).

Visible Light Hydrogen Evolution over <i>α</i>-MoO</span>_{<span style="font-family:Verdana;">3</span>}<span style="font-family:Verdana;">and <i>α</i>-MoO</span>_{<span style="font-family:Verdana;">3</span>}<span style="font-family:Verdana;">/ZnO Hetero-Junction

MoO3 and 5% MoO3/ZnO were prepared by impregnation method using (NH4)6Mo7O24, 4H2O as precursor and ZnO as support. The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), infra red (FTIR) and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance (DRS) spectroscopies and photo-electrochemistry. The XRD pattern showed that the MoO3 powder treated at 700°C is a single-phase crystallizing in an orthorhombic structure with a direct optical transition (2.70 eV). The hetero-junction 5% MoO3/ZnO was photo-electrochemically characterized to assess its feasibility for H2 production under visible light. The capacitance potential (C-2 f(E)) characteristic of MoO3 plotted in Na2SO4, (0.1 M) electrolyte indicates n-type conduction with a flat band potential of -0.54 VSCE. The photocatalytic activity was performed for the photoreduction of water to hydrogen under visible light illumination. The best performance occurs at pH ~ 7 with an evolved volume of 5.9 mL.