Ni-based catalysts with coke resistance enhance by radio frequency discharge plasma for CH4/CO2 reforming

Coke deposition has been considered to be one of the most important reasons hindering the stability of the catalyst during CH₄/CO₂ reforming. In this study, after the addition of P123 (PEG-PPG-PEG triblock copolymer), Ni²⁺ can be well-dispersed on the mesoporous molecular sieve MCM-41. And then, the catalysts were prepared by using N₂ radio frequency (RF) discharge plasma for different treatment times to reduce the size of Ni particles, improve the anti-coking performance, and thereby improve the stability of the catalyst. The results showed that the catalyst NM-P123-PN2h exhibits superior catalytic properties in the CH₄/CO₂ reforming. The initial conversions of CH₄ and CO₂ were 90.80% and 89.60% at 750 °C, respectively. The catalyst NM-P123-PN2h showed highly coke resistance with less carbon deposition (1.12%) at 750 °C after 10 h of continuous reaction, while the carbon deposition of the catalyst NM-C was 37.32%. Compared with the traditional calcination method, the catalyst prepared by plasma treatment has a smaller particle size and better dispersibility of nickel. In particular, the nickel particle size of the catalyst NM-C was 8.37 nm, however, that of the catalyst NM-P123-PN2h was only 1.70 nm, and the nickel particle size was reduced by 5 times. Therefore, it can be concluded that the catalyst prepared under the combined action of P123 and RF plasma-treated can effectively improve the coke resistance of the catalyst and the stability of the CH₄/CO₂ reforming.