Construction of hierarchical MgAl2O4 spinel as catalytic supports

Two types of nanostructures for MgAl2O4 spinel were reported, the hollow spheres and 3D hierarchical structures assembled from 2D thin nanosheets. The achieved materials are highly uniformed in morphologies and the 3D hierarchical MgAl2O4 owns a relatively large specific surface area of 180 m2 g−1. The application of the obtained materials as metallic Ni supports was tested in CO2 reforming of methane, and the Ni/hierarchical MgAl2O4 shows remarkably excellent performance in both activity and stability. Interestingly the syntheses are based on different solvents, in which the growth can be controlled to be either a diffusion controlled one for spheres or a kinetically controlled one for the hierarchical structure.