Calcination Temperature Effects on Ni/ZrO2 Catalysts for Dry Reforming of Methane

In this study, calcination temperatures (550, 650, and 750 °C) are utilized to analyze the efficiency of Ni-based catalyst for dry reforming of methane (DRM), a potential technique for reduction in greenhouse gases and synthesis of syngas. Ni catalysts were obtained from the impregnation of 10 wt.% Ni onto ZrO2 prepared in the laboratory. A study of the synthesized catalysts was carried out using characterization techniques such as N2 physisorption, XRD, FTIR, and SEM. This analysis showed that calcination temperature affects the catalytic activity of the material investigated in the study. For those catalysts showing initially fairly high conversion of methane (more than 50 %), an increase in calcination temperature resulted in alower conversion of methane. It is believed that Ni nanoparticles sinter at higher temperatures resulting in decreased active surface area of the catalyst which in turn minimizes the number of active sites for the DRM reaction. On the other hand, for the catalysts with lower initial activity below 40 %, the effect of calcination temperature to the catalyst activity was not highly significant. This could be because the Ni particles in these catalysts are larger, or else the metalsupport bonds are not so strong that the catalysts cannot resist sintering at high temperatures. From the tested catalysts, NZS-10 has shown the highest performance with the average conversion of CH4 and CO2 at 60.5% and 62% respectively, and the lowest deactivation rate of 5%. This superior performance can be attributed to a combination of factors, including high surface area, optimal Ni particle size, strong metal-support interactions, resistance to sintering, and a well-developed porous structure. Fine-tuning certain characteristics of the NZS-10 catalyst can make the catalyst more efficient and have longer stability.