Synthesis of Ni-TiN incorporated porous silica catalysts for dry reforming of methane

Abstract

A new titanium nitride (TiN) promoted nickel catalyst was synthesized and tested as an alternative catalyst in the dry reforming of methane (DRM). The series of this catalyst with various Ni and TiN contents was prepared in two steps, direct synthesis of SBA-15 in the presence of TiN, followed by the impregnation of Ni. The influence of TiN promoted Ni-based catalyst on dry reforming reaction was investigated at the temperature of 700ºC and atmospheric pressure for a duration of 4 h, using feed ratio of CH4/CO2 = 1. The promising catalysts, that gave highest CO2 and CH4 conversions as well as the production of H2 and CO, were selected. These selected catalysts were compared to non-promoted Ni catalyst in the reaction for 12 h for further investigation. The results showed that the performance of Ni catalyst in the reaction was improved by incorporated TiN. Moreover, the SBA-15 support is favor to DRM reaction more than zeolite Y. The appropriate basicity was generated by the presence of both Ni and TiN supported on mesoporous silica SBA-15. The maximum CH4 and CO2 conversions were obtained from the catalyst containing 10 wt% Ni and ~ 5 wt% TiN supported on SBA-15. Therefore, Ni/TiN-SBA-15 could be a competitive candidate catalyst for DRM reaction.