Abstract

The role of the metal promoters Ca, Mg, Cu and Zn in dry methane reforming on activated carbon (AC)-supported nickel-based catalysts has been studied. The catalytic activities were performed in a fixed-bed reactor under mild conditions (650ºC, 1atm). The catalysts were characterized by N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, XRD, FTIR and XPS before and after reaction. It was observed that Ni-Mg/AC catalyst showed the highest initial catalytic activity, followed by Ni-Ca/AC catalyst. This can be ascribed to a very well-known effect where Lewis bases as MgO or CaO stabilize Ni-based catalysts [1,2], improving the dispersion of nickel species on the AC during dry methane reforming reactions.