A silica (SiO 2 ) nanofibre confined nickel (Ni) catalyst was successfully synthesized by the electrospinning technique and was then systematically characterized with thermogravimetric/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), N 2 sorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution-transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), temperatureprogrammed oxidation (O 2 -TPO), temperature-programmed reduction (H 2 -TPR) and temperatureprogrammed desorption (CO 2 -TPD) measurements. In the electrospinning synthesized Ni/SiO 2 catalyst, most of the Ni nanoparticles were confined inside SiO 2 nanofibers with an average particle size of 8.1 nm.Compared with the Ni/SiO 2 catalyst conventionally prepared via the incipient impregnation method using commercial SiO 2 powder as the support, the electrospun Ni/SiO 2 catalyst exhibited improved metal dispersion and enhanced metal-support interaction, leading to slightly higher activity and much better stability in the carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) reforming of methane. Carbon deposition, rather than metal sintering, is identified as the main cause for the deactivation of the Ni/SiO 2 catalyst under current conditions. The present work demonstrates that electrospinning is a potential technique for the fabrication of nanoconfined catalysts with superior catalytic performance and macro-scale handling properties.
A nanocomposite Ni/CeO 2 −CDC-SiC catalyst which consists of highly dispersed Ni nanoparticles contacting intimately with CeO 2 nanoparticles on a nanoporous carbide-derived carbon (CDC) layer over SiC support has been successfully designed for carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) reforming of methane. In comparison with the Ni/CDC-SiC catalyst, the ceria-promoted Ni/ CDC-SiC catalyst possessed enhanced activity and improved stability. The catalysts were systematically characterized with N 2 sorption, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry elemental mapping, thermogravimetric/differential thermal analysis, temperature-programmed reduction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. It was found that, after introducing CeO 2 promoter, the specific surface area was increased, and a smaller Ni particle size was obtained. The smaller Ni particle size led to an enhanced reforming activity. The presence of abundant Ni− CeO 2 interfaces on the CeO 2 -promoted catalyst accelerated the carbon removal through the lattice oxygen species, which resulted in superior carbon resistance and thus an improved stability. The outcome of the present work is expected to shed meaningful insight into the design of nanocomposite catalysts with the aid of metal−oxide interfaces.
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