CH4 and CO2 conversion over boron nitride-supported Ni catalysts with B-O defects in DBD plasma

Non-thermal plasma (NTP) combined with catalysts supplies a potential alternative to enable the CH4 and CO2 conversion to work at low temperatures. In this study, different Ni/BN catalysts were synthesized using modified wetness impregnation for CH4 and CO2 conversion in dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma. Among, BN_I-PA_Ni exhibited the highest catalytic performance with a CH4 conversion of 40.5%, a CO2 conversion of 26.6%, a H-2 yield of 9.3% and a CO yield of 10.5%. The development of B-O defects, which played a significant role in the size control of Ni particles to facilitate the dissociation of CH4 to form H*, is the key for the high catalysis activity and selectivity in this reaction. In addition, the B-O defects of BN_IPA_Ni provide an efficient route to eliminate excess CHx species, which further inhibit the nucleation growth of carbon species to inert carbon.