Issue 40, 2020

Sinter-resistant Rh nanoparticles supported on γ-Al2O3 nanosheets as an efficient catalyst for dry reforming of methane

Abstract

γ-Al2O3 nanosheet supported rhodium catalysts with Rh loadings between 0.05 and 2 wt% were prepared by the impregnation method and used for dry reforming of methane (DRM). It was found that Rh species on γ-Al2O3 nanosheets demonstrated excellent stability against sintering at high temperature. After calcining in air at 800 °C followed by reducing with hydrogen at 600 °C, the average particle size of Rh at maximum distribution increases from 1.0 ± 0.3 to 1.8 ± 0.3 nm with an increase in Rh loadings in the catalysts from 0.05 to 2 wt%. Even after reducing with hydrogen at 900 °C, the average size of Rh particles in the catalysts still remained below 2 nm. The results of catalytic performance evaluation show that CH4 and CO2 conversions of 84% and 90%, respectively, with a H2/CO ratio in syngas close to unity can be achieved with a catalyst of Rh loading of only 0.05 wt% at 750 °C. The performance of the catalyst remains stable for more than 200 h. No significant aggregation of the Rh particles is observed on the catalyst after the reaction. The results of XPS, H2-TPR and O2-TPD characterization methods indicate that the strong interaction between Rh and the γ-Al2O3 nanosheets plays a key role in increasing the dispersion of Rh species in the catalyst and preventing it from sintering under high temperature conditions. This factor is also responsible for the superior activity and stability of the catalyst with extremely low Rh loading for the DRM reaction.

Graphical abstract: Sinter-resistant Rh nanoparticles supported on γ-Al2O3 nanosheets as an efficient catalyst for dry reforming of methane

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 Jun 2020
Accepted
12 Sep 2020
First published
15 Sep 2020

Nanoscale, 2020,12, 20922-20932

Sinter-resistant Rh nanoparticles supported on γ-Al2O3 nanosheets as an efficient catalyst for dry reforming of methane

S. Chu, Z. Cai, M. Wang, Y. Zheng, Y. Wang, Z. Zhou and W. Weng, Nanoscale, 2020, 12, 20922 DOI: 10.1039/D0NR04644B

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements