Low temperature dry reforming of methane over plasmonic Ni photocatalysts under visible light irradiation

Abstract

Low temperature CO₂ conversion with CH₄ into syngas (dry reforming of methane, DRM) was achieved over a plasmonic Ni/Al₂O₃ photocatalyst with a high conversion of CO₂ (21%) and CH₄ (20%) using a fixed-bed flow reactor at 473 K. The formation rates of CO and H₂ were 1.87 and 1.20 mmol h⁻¹, respectively, and these values were over 47 times higher than those using the Ga₂O₃ photocatalyst previously reported by our group. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in which high formation rates of CO and H₂ were achieved at 473 K in the DRM reaction under visible light. Besides, the CO/H₂ ratio was successfully controlled by changing the CO₂/CH₄ ratio in the feed gas mixture.