Rice Husk Ash Derived SiO2 for Template Free Synthesis of H-ZSM-5 Support for Ni Catalyst: Investigation on Non-Oxidative CH4 Cracking for Clean H2 Production

H-ZSM-5(RH) was synthesized using rice husk without an organic reagent and explored it as a support for Ni in the catalytic cracking of methane (CCM). Detailed investigations of the fresh and used catalysts analysed by using XRD, SEM, TEM, H2-TPR, DT/TGA and CO pulse chemisorption techniques revealed that the high CCM activity was due to enhanced Ni dispersion and increased Cu-Ni interactions. Among the Ni/H-ZSM-5(RH) and bimetallic (Ni-M/H-ZSM-5(RH) M = Zn, Co, Fe, Cu) catalysts, the Cu-Ni/H-ZSM-5(RH) demonstrated a hydrogen yield of 275 Nm3/molNi which was explained by a high degree of graphitization confirmed by Raman spectroscopic analysis.