Highly Carbon-Resistant Y Doped NiO–ZrOm Catalysts for Dry Reforming of Methane

Yttrium-doped NiO–ZrOm catalyst was found to be novel for carbon resistance in the CO2 reforming of methane. Yttrium-free and -doped NiO–ZrOm catalysts were prepared by a one-step urea hydrolysis method and characterized by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), TPR-H2, CO2-TPD, XRD, TEM and XPS. Yttrium-doped NiO–ZrOm catalyst resulted in higher interaction between Ni and ZrOm, higher distribution of weak and medium basic sites, and smaller Ni crystallite size, as compared to the Y-free NiO–ZrOm catalyst after reaction. The DRM catalytic tests were conducted at 700 °C for 8 h, leading to a significant decrease of activity and selectivity for the yttrium-doped NiO–ZrOm catalyst. The carbon deposition after the DRM reaction on yttrium-doped NiO–ZrOm catalyst was lower than on yttrium-free NiO–ZrOm catalyst, which indicated that yttrium could promote the inhibition of carbon deposition during the DRM process.