Catalytic pyrolysis of corncob with Ni/CaO dual functional catalysts for hydrogen-rich gas

•Effects of reaction conditions and secondary metals on gas product were studied.•Corncob steam gasification to H2-rich gas enabled high value utilization of biomass.•Compared with Cu, Ce and Mo improved the catalyst performance for H2 production.•Ce increased the oxygen migration capacity of Ni/Ca bifunctional catalysts.•The maximum H2 yield was 33.72 mmol/gbiomass and H2 concentration was 81.25 vol.%.