Dry reforming of methane over a Ni-CaO-ZrO 2 catalyst: Effect of pore structure

Ni-CaO-ZrO 2 catalysts with different pore structure were prepared and tested for methane dry reforming. It is found that the pore structure of the catalyst have great influence on its catalytic properties. Characterization by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature programmed (TP) techniques and N 2 adsorption-desorption confirmed that the confine effect of the mesoporous structure could effectively prevent Ni particles from sintering and crystalline growth during high temperature reaction, while large Ni particles were formed in the catalyst without the mesoporus framework. As a result, the mesoporous catalyst exhibited a better catalytic performance with both higher activity and stability as well as higher coking resistance.