Effects of preparation methods on activity of Ni/SiO2 fiber catalysts in ethanol steam reforming

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to study the effects of preparation methods on Ni/SiO2 fiber catalyst for apply to investigate catalytic activity for hydrogen production in ethanol steam reforming (ESR). The catalysts were prepared by three different methods: impregnation (IM), deposition precipitation (DP) and strong electrostatic adsorption (SEA). Silica fiber (SF) supported nickel catalyst have been synthesized by using a combination of a sol-gel method and electrospinning technique. The prepared catalysts were characterized by BET, H2-TPR, XRD, SEM-EDX, TEM and TGA technique. The catalytic tests were performed at atmospheric pressure by using the steam/ethanol mole ratio of 9 and the space time of 18 gcatalyst·h/molethanol between 400 and 600°C. According to the results, the preparation method had a strong affect on catalytic performance of Ni/SiO2 fiber catalysts used in the ethanol steam reforming. The fiber catalyst prepared by strong electrostatic adsorption method was smaller NiO particle size and stronger metal-support interaction than deposition precipitation and impregnation methods. The NiO particle size in the nickel supported on silica fiber catalyst ranged from 7 nm to 22 nm. The highest catalytic activity was Ni/SF-SEA and their catalytic activity were ordered by Ni/SF-SEA > Ni/SF-DP > Ni/ SF-IM > Ni/SP-IM. The different catalytic activities were related to the particle size and metal-support interaction.