Enhanced reactivity of methane partial oxidation of nickel doped LaMnO3+δ perovskites for chemical looping process

Chemical looping partial oxidation of methane (CLPOM) is an economic and safe approach to produce high-quality syngas (H2/CO = 2). The reactivity of oxygen carriers in term of partial oxidation of methane into syngas is the key factor of the CLPOM performance. In this work, nickel doped LaMnO3+δ perovskite is presented. Redox tests showed that LaMn1-xNixO3+δ perovskites exhibited high release rate of selective oxygen and generation rate of syngas. High-quality syngas could be produced via LaMn0.9Ni0.1O3+δ and LaMn0.8Ni0.2O3+δ with a high methane conversion (82.0% and 94.3%), syngas selectivity (86.3%, 84.8%) and syngas yield (4.80 mmol g−1, 5.25 mmol g−1) at 850 °C. LaMn0.8Ni0.2O3+δ and LaMn0.7Ni0.3O3+δ achieved satisfactory performance at 800 °C and 750 °C. The reactivity enhancement of methane partial oxidation of LaMn1-xNixO3+δ perovskites arises from the active sites for methane activation and more oxygen vacancies for acceleration of oxygen migration due to the nickel doping. Briefly, enhanced reactivity of partial oxidation of LaMn1-xNixO3+δ oxygen carriers provides a new dimension for chemical looping conversion of carbonaceous fuel.