Studies of Ni Supported on La-Zr Mixed Oxide Catalysts for Bi-reforming of Methane with CO2 to Syngas

Investigation of methane bi-reforming over Ni-impregnated La₂O₃-ZrO₂ mixed oxide catalysts to produce hydrogen-rich syngas. A series of supports with varying molar ratios of La-Zr were synthesized using the co-precipitation method, and the metal addition was carried out using the impregnation method. The properties of the materials are characterized by different characterization techniques such as BET, XRD, H₂-TPR, and CO₂-TPD analyses. The overall characterization illustrated that the change in the mole ratio of La₂O₃-ZrO₂ support improves catalyst performance by enhancing CO₂ adsorption and metal-support interactions and reducing carbon deposition. 12 wt% Ni loading catalyst with La₂O₃-ZrO₂ molar ratio of 3:1 showed optimal performance, yielding high methane and CO₂ conversion rates (90% and 75%, respectively) and achieving H₂ yield of 82%. Further, the catalyst demonstrated stability over a 100 h reaction time, ascribed to the strong metal-support interaction along with the change in the basicity with change in the La₂O₃, which improves the overall bi-reforming methane reactivity and enhances syngas production.