Nickel catalysts supported on MgO with different specific surface area for carbon dioxide reforming of methane

In this paper, three kinds of MgO with different specific surface area were prepared, and their effects on the catalytic performance of nickel catalysts for the carbon dioxide reforming of methane were investigated. The results showed that MgO support with the higher specific surface area led to the higher dispersion of the active metal, which resulted in the higher initial activity. On the other hand, the specific surface area of MgO materials might not be the dominant factor for the basicity of support to chemisorb and activate CO₂, which was another important factor for the performance of catalysts. Herein, Ni/MgO(CA) catalyst with proper specific surface area and strong ability to activate CO₂ exhibited stable catalytic property and the carbon species deposited on the Ni/MgO(CA) catalyst after 10 h of reaction at 650 °C were mainly activated carbon species.