A transient isotopic study for investigating important design parameters of NiCo/Ce0.75Zr0.25O2- catalyst for the dry reforming of methane

The effects of metal loading and particle size of NiCo alloy deposited on Ce0.75Zr0.25O2-delta carrier on the carbon reaction paths of dry reforming of methane at 750 degrees C with respect to the observed long-term activity profiles was elucidated. Small NiCo nanoparticles (7.8 nm) showed progressive deactivation as opposed to the larger ones (43 nm) which exhibited self-regeneration. Towards this goal, appropriate transient kinetic isotopic experiments (use of 18O2 and 13CO2) and other catalyst characterization studies (transient isothermal reduction, XPS, HAADF-STEM-EDX) were conducted. This work paves the way for the design of highly active and coke-resistant reducible metal oxides-supported NiCo.