Low temperature conversion of methane to syngas using lattice oxygen over NiO-MgO

The conversion of methane to syngas (H₂ and CO) is an important route to produce high value-added products. Oxidize methane into syngas in the absence of gaseous oxidants is an economical route. In this work, NiO-MgO composite is successfully synthesized via an impregnation method. At 764 K, methane is directly converted to syngas on the NiO-MgO without gaseous oxidants. A synergistic effect of NiO and MgO was observed, in which NiO induced lattice oxygen of MgO mobility to oxidize methane and suppressed the formation of intermediates for side reaction. As a result, NiO-MgO exhibited enhancement of catalytic activity with the H₂ production rate of 1241.0 µmol g^?1 min^?1, which was 3.4 times higher than that of pure MgO. This work provides a direct guidance to understand of methane oxidation via lattice oxygen under low temperature (< 773 K).