Role of support in reforming of CH4 with CO2 over Rh catalysts

The reforming of CH₄ with CO₂ over supported Rh catalysts has been studied over a range of temperatures (550–1000 K). A significant effect of the support on the catalytic activity was observed, where the order was Rh/Al₂O₃>Rh/TiO₂>Rh/SiO₂. The catalytic activity of Rh/SiO₂ was promoted markedly by physical mixing of Rh/SiO₂ with metal oxides such as Al₂O₃, TiO₂, and MgO, indicating a synergetic effect. The role of the metal oxides used as the support and the physical mixture may be ascribed to the promotion in dissociation of CO₂ on the surface of Rh, since the CH₄ + CO₂ reaction is first order in the pressure of CO₂, suggesting that CO₂ dissociation is the rate-determining step. The possible model of the synergetic effect was proposed.