Open Access Article
Kaho Nagakawaa,
Hiroshi Sampei
a,
Ayako Takahashia,
Jun Sasakia,
Takuma Higo
a,
Naoya Morib,
Hideto Satob and
Yasushi Sekine
*a
aDepartment of Applied Chemistry, Waseda University, 3-4-1, Okubo, Shinjuku, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan. E-mail: ysekine@waseda.jp
bMurata Manufacturing Co. Ltd, 1-10-1, Higashikotari, Nagaokakyo-shi, Kyoto, 617-8555, Japan
First published on 7th September 2022
The effect of OH-groups on the surface of a Ni catalyst for low-temperature (473 K) steam reforming of methane in an electric field (EF) was investigated. Ni-doped YSZ (Zr0.65Y0.05Ni0.3O2) was chosen as a highly active catalyst for this purpose. The effects on catalyst activity of adding hydrogen and steam in the pre-treatment were assessed with and without EF. When an EF was applied, activity increased irrespective of the electronic state of Ni, whereas the metallic Ni state was necessary for activity without EF. Furthermore, the highest activity with EF was observed for the pre-treatment with a mixture of H2 and H2O. Investigation of the superiority using XPS measurements showed an increase in the amount of Ni(OH)2, OH groups and H2O near the surface after the activity test, which are regarded as the reaction sites with EF. This finding suggests that a pre-treatment with steam increases the surface OH groups and Ni(OH)2 on the Ni catalyst, and enhances surface proton conduction, thereby improving the activity.
| CH4 + H2O → CO + 3H2, ΔH2980 = 206.1 kJ mol−1 | (1) |
| CO + H2O → CO2 + H2, ΔH2980 = −41.2 kJ mol−1 | (2) |
| CH4 + 2H2O → CO2 + 4H2, ΔH2980 = 164.9 kJ mol−1 | (3) |
The steam reforming reaction, a highly endothermic reaction, has been reported as only being able to proceed at temperatures higher than 1000 K using Ni-based catalysts.1,2 Under such severe conditions, catalyst deactivation and carbon deposition are likely to occur, which poses a challenge. Also such a process requires a large scale operation. A methane steam reforming process that can proceed at lower temperatures with a small scale is highly anticipated.
We investigated the catalytic reaction in an electric field (denoted ER), in which the catalytic performance is improved by application of a direct current to the catalyst bed.3–6 The reaction mechanism in ER was investigated; results showed that the proton conducts on the CeO2 by the Grotthuss mechanism and collides with methane, which promotes the activation of methane.5–7
Consequently, the reaction mechanism of methane steam reforming in ER differs from the conventional catalytic reaction by heating (denoted SR): in ER, proton conduction at the surface (surface protonics) is a crucially important factor for high activity in methane steam reforming under the application of EF. For this study, yttria stabilised zirconia (YSZ),8,9 which exhibits surface proton conductivity, was used as a catalyst support and was doped with Ni, which is the most suitable active metal for steam reforming.10 Active metals are known to be highly dispersible and loaded by reduction treatment after doping.11,12 For methane steam reforming at low temperatures, we investigated utilisation of the surface protonics on the catalyst, and investigated the effects on ER activity attributable to changes in the protonics when the amount of hydroxyl groups and adsorbed water on the catalyst are controlled by pre-treatment.
:
H2O
:
Ar = x
:
(60−x): 60 (x = 0, 12, 30, 48, 60), total flow: 120 SCCM or inert Ar only (total flow: 60 SCCM). The catalyst bed temperature was measured using a thermocouple inserted into the catalyst bed. The furnace temperature was controlled at 473 K when applying EF and at 543–673 K when not applying EF (because no activity was observed at 473 K without EF). We inserted two stainless steel electrodes (2.0 mm o.d.) into the reactor and attached them to both the top and the bottom of the catalyst bed. We applied direct current (DC; 3–9 mA) to the catalyst bed. The response voltage was recorded using a digital phosphor oscilloscope (TDS 2001C; Tektronix Inc). The reaction gas components were CH4
:
H2O
:
Ar = 1
:
2
:
7 (120 SCCM total flow). The production gas, CH4, CO, and CO2, was analysed using a gas chromatograph (GC-2014; Shimadzu Corp.) with a flame ionization detector (FID) using a methanizer (Ru/Al2O3) and H2 was analysed by a TCD gas chromatograph. The reaction rate was calculated using the amount of CO and CO2 produced (rCO + CO2). The CH4 conversion and CO2 selectivity were calculated using equations shown in ESI.†
:
H2O
:
He = (30−x)
:
x
:
90 (x = 0, 15, 30, total flow rate 120 SCCM) at a cell temperature of 873 K and a holding time of 1 h. After the pre-treatment, the temperature was controlled to be 473 K for evaluation with following gas flow; CH4
:
H2O
:
He = 1
:
2
:
7. As standard samples, Ni foil, Ni(OH)2, and NiO were used.
An XPS system (PHI5000 VersaProbe II; Ulvac-Phi Inc.) was used to estimate the state near the surface after each pre-treatment and after the ER test. About 80 mg of each catalyst was first pre-treated with H2
:
H2O
:
Ar = (60−x)
:
x
:
60 (x = 0, 30, 60, total flow: 120 SCCM) at a furnace temperature of 873 K for 1 h, using the reactor described in Section 2.2. The temperature was then controlled to be 473 K. The total flow rate of the reaction gas was 120 SCCM, with reaction gas of CH4
:
H2O
:
Ar = 1
:
2
:
7. Current of 9 mA was applied to the catalyst bed for 30 min. After each pre-treatment and after application of the EF, the reaction tube was placed in a glove bag to avoid exposure to the open air. It was then placed in a transfer vessel under high purity Ar conditions. The transfer vessel was placed in an XPS apparatus. We obtained the peak of C 1s, O 1s, and Ni 2p2/3 from the measurements. The peaks attributed to C–C and C–H bonds in the C 1s orbital were charge-corrected to 284.8 eV. As Ni standards, Ni foil, Ni(OH)2, and NiO were used.
Other characterizations including XRD, BET, etc. are presented in ESI.†
:
H2O = 0
:
60) showed no SR activity, even at 673 K, because the Ni was regarded as oxidised by the steam. The Ni0 state is generally known to be necessary for the conventional catalytic reaction by heating, which proceeds by the Langmuir–Hinshelwood mechanism.10,13,14 In the steam-only pre-treatment, Ni is regarded as oxidised, therefore is inactive. However, the low-temperature catalytic reaction with the application of EF showed sufficient activity with only a steam pre-treatment, which indicates that the reaction in ER proceeds by a different reaction mechanism than in SR, even on oxidized Ni. Furthermore, to confirm the role of the presence of Ni, ER activity was measured using pre-reduced YSZ without Ni doping, which showed much smaller ER activity than Ni-YSZ. These phenomena are not electrode-dependent, and the same results can be obtained with carbon rod electrodes and other electrodes, regardless of the material of the electrode. Therefore, it was found that Ni has an important role in the activity in ER, and that YSZ only is not sufficient. Furthermore, from Fig. 2, the ER activity was in the order of H2
:
H2O = 30
:
30 > 12
:
48 > 48
:
12 > 60
:
0 > 0
:
60 as the composition ratio of the pre-treatment. The simultaneous supply of hydrogen and steam was found to have a higher ER activity than the hydrogen reduction and steam pre-treatments. This difference was observed to persist during the long-term test (ESI Fig. S2†). This result indicates that the difference in ER activity between these different pre-treatment conditions persists for a long time, the difference is not a transitional state phenomenon.
![]() | ||
Fig. 3 Ni K-edge XANES spectra with various pre-treatments: (A) H2 : H2O = 30 : 0 (SCCM); (B) H2 : H2O = 15 : 15; (C) H2 : H2O = 0 : 30; catalyst: Zr0.65Y0.05Ni0.3O2. | ||
:
H2O = 30
:
30, where hydrogen and steam were supplied simultaneously. The ratio of any of them decreased under other conditions. The increase in Ni(OH)2, the OH and H2O ratio were then compared with the results of the ER test, as described in Section 3.1. The surface OH group and adsorbed H2O mediate the Grotthuss mechanism, one of the proton migration mechanisms. Under pre-treatment conditions in which hydrogen and steam were supplied simultaneously (H2
:
H2O = 30
:
30), the ratio of Ni(OH)2 increased, and it also plays a role on surface proton conduction. We examined the catalytic activity of Ni(OH)2 without catalyst support in the EF, and we confirmed that the Ni(OH)2 showed catalytic activity on steam reforming of methane in the EF (see ESI Fig. S3†), so the role of surface protonics on Ni(OH)2 has confirmed experimentally.
![]() | ||
| Fig. 4 XPS spectra for O 1s after various pre-treatments followed by reaction (A) without application of EF and (B) after the application of the EF of 9 mA. | ||
![]() | ||
| Fig. 5 XPS spectra for Ni 2p3/2 after various pre-treatments followed by reaction (A) without application of EF and (B) after the application of the EF of 9 mA. | ||
:
H2O
:
Ar = x
:
(60−x)
:
60 (x = 0, 30, 60)
Results showed that the catalyst after steam treatment, which was not active in SR, was highly active in ER. Results obtained from XANES and XPS showed that Ni was oxidised by the steam treatment in both cases. Therefore, it is clear that ER activity can occur irrespective of the electronic state of Ni, supporting the conventional low-temperature catalytic reaction mechanism by the surface protonics.15–17 Because YSZ is also a proton conductor, it is useful as an interface between the support and the active metal irrespective of its electronic state. The ER activity of Ni-doped YSZ was regarded as occurring in the presence of an interface between the catalyst support and the active metal.5
Furthermore, higher ER activity was observed when hydrogen and steam were mixed in the pre-treatment. The highest activity was obtained when H2 and H2O were mixed in equal amounts. To investigate the factors responsible for this activity order, XPS measurements of the electronic structure of O and Ni near the surface showed that the ratio of Ni(OH)2, OH and H2O increased only after pre-treatment with a mixture of equal amounts of H2 and H2O. This finding leads us to believe that the surface protonics, which is important in ER, was improved because of the increased ratio of OH and H2O on the surface, not only on the catalyst-support but also near Ni, and caused high reaction activity of Ni-doped YSZ.
Footnote |
| † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See https://doi.org/10.1039/d2ra04974k |
| This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2022 |