Enhanced CO2 conversion with CH4 for greenfuel generation using coke-neutral nickel-loaded fibrous silica titania catalysts
M. Alhassan, Aishah Abdul Jalil, Abdelrahman Hamad Khalifa Owgi, M.B. Bahari, Che Rozid Mamat, Thuan Van Tran, Walid Nabgan, A. Hatta, N.S. Hassan, Saravanan Rajendran
Abstract
This study reveals a groundbreaking advancement in utilizing carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) for syngas production through methane (CH 4 ) dry reforming using Fibrous Silica Titania (FST) as a support, loaded with different (1%, 3%, and 5%) nickel dosages. FST is distinguished by its fibrous structure, maintains a stable temperature, facilitates the confinement and dispersion of active metal, and is exceptionally effective at preventing carbon deposition. For a thorough examination of the new catalysts, characterization methods including XRD , FESEM , EDX mapping, N 2 physisorption , FTIR-KBr, H 2 -TPR, and CO 2 -TPD were employed. Importantly, TEM lattice fringes verified the existence of XRD peaks and planes of Ni (111), Ni (200), and TiO 2 (101). Aspects such as O-H stretching, Si-O-Si asymmetry, vibrations caused by external Si-OH groups, and Si-O-Si bending were identified using FTIR-KBr analysis. The study ingeniously identified the superior (3Ni/FST) catalyst, which exhibited moderate basicity sites on the CO 2 -TPD at approximately 350 °C. The catalyst converted nearly 100% CH 4 at 750 °C with minimal coke production and 80% CO 2 at 850 °C. Surprisingly, the 3Ni/FST catalyst demonstrated remarkable stability during a 72 h TOS stability test at 650 °C, effectively preventing coke-forming side reactions such as CO disproportionation , CO hydrogenation, CO 2 and CH 4 cracking with syngas ratio around unity and little coke production. The FST support exhibited exceptional attributes for low temperature carbon neutral CH 4 reforming.