Surface engineered sustainable nanocatalyst with improved coke resistance for dry methane reforming to produce hydrogen

Azeem, S, Safdar, M, Aslam, R, Wang, B, Ziani, I, Ansar, S and Sher, F ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2890-5912, 2024. Surface engineered sustainable nanocatalyst with improved coke resistance for dry methane reforming to produce hydrogen. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 187, pp. 962-973. ISSN 0957-5820

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Abstract

The ever-growing carbon-based economy has led to alarming increases in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, particularly methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). These emissions accelerate global warming, pollution and environmental challenges. Methane Dry Reforming (DRM) offers a promising technology to address this issue by converting CH4 and CO2 into a valuable syngas (CO + H2) mixture, which is a valuable fuel and a building block for many important chemical reactions (Fischer-Tropsch process). However, finding affordable and environmentally friendly catalysts for large-scale applications remains a critical hurdle. This study delves into the development of stable nickel-zirconia catalysts prepared via impregnation method. The weight percentage of nickel and zirconia was varied to optimize the catalyst's activity by controlling deactivation phenomenon that is a major challenge at higher temperatures during DRM. Various characterization techniques (XRD, FT-IR, SEM-EDX, TGA, TEM and BET) were employed to evaluate synthesized catalysts physio-chemical properties. Additionally, catalytic performance was assessed at temperatures ranging from 550 to 750 °C and a gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of 72,000 mL/h.gcat. Among tested catalysts, 15% Ni/ZrO2 displayed remarkable conversion values for both CH4 (62.9%) and CO2 (64.9%). Importantly, it exhibited significantly lower weight loss (ca. 15.42%) compared to other variants, indicating better resilience against coke deposition. This enhanced stability can be attributed to synergistic interplay between nickel and zirconia support, effectively suppressing carbon formation. These findings demonstrate potential of 15% Ni/ZrO2 as a promising catalyst for experimental DRM application. With the obvious high activity and stability, 15% Ni/ZrO2 candidate serves as an eco-friendly candidate for greenhouse gas conversion into green fuel energy, contributing to a sustainable economy and clean environment.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Process Safety and Environmental Protection
Creators:	Azeem, S., Safdar, M., Aslam, R., Wang, B., Ziani, I., Ansar, S. and Sher, F.
Publisher:	Elsevier BV
Date:	July 2024
Volume:	187
ISSN:	0957-5820
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1016/j.psep.2024.05.033 DOI S0957582024005445 Publisher Item Identifier 2556496 Other
Rights:	© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Institution of Chemical Engineers. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Melissa Cornwell
Date Added:	29 Jan 2026 11:23
Last Modified:	29 Jan 2026 11:23
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/55149

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