Ricerc@Sapienza

The aim of the project is the development of new active, selective and stable catalysts for syngas (H2+CO) production by the catalytic partial oxidation and dry reforming of methane (CH4-CPO, CH4-DR). This research project, a continuation proposal of the one approved last year, will be focused on the preparation, characterization and study of the catalytic activity of nanostructured ZrO2-supported nickel (Ni/ZrO2) systems that showed in preliminary tests a promising activity and stability for CH4-CPO. The new perspective brought to the topic deals with the adoption of new methods for the catalysts preparation and of an additional catalytic process for syngas production, i.e. the dry reforming of methane (CH4-DR), yielding syngas from carbon dioxide and methane. Special attention will be focused on the ZrO2 support structure and morphology, catalysts activation conditions (temperature, atmosphere), Ni particles size and catalysts deactivation.
Ni/ZrO2 samples at various Ni loading (0.5-10.0 wt%) will be prepared using ZrO2 supports obtained with different methods and showing distinct morphology. The characterization of the materials will be performed with several physico-chemical techniques including Atomic Adsorption, XRD, UV-vis, FESEM, FTIR, Raman, TPR and textural analyses. The catalytic activity will be tested in a flow apparatus at atmospheric pressure in steady state conditions, by changing feed ratio, reaction temperature, contact time and catalyst pre-treatment.
The combined analysis of characterization and catalytic results is expected to improve the knowledge of the relationship between composition, structure and catalytic performances of the materials.