The effects of Sr incorporation over Ni/Al2O3 catalysts were explored for the dry reforming of methane (DRM). Ni-exsolved catalysts (NiEXS) and conventional Ni-impregnated catalysts (NiIMP) were prepared by using a spray-pyrolysis-assisted evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) method to produce a solid solution and mesoporous structures. In the DRM tests, strontium showed crucial effects for improving the resistance of carbon formation and the stability of the catalyst. Particularly, NiEXS/ Sr−Al demonstrated a crystal size growth of 0.8% and a coking rate of 0.012 gc·gcat −1·h−1, which was remarkably lower than those of the other catalysts (NiIMP/Al, NiIMP/Sr−Al, and NiEXS/Al). This study primarily investigated the catalytic properties and strong metal− support interaction, which depended on the preparation procedure, for verifying the origin of the most stable NiEXS/Sr−Al catalyst. In particular, the roles of promotional Sr in enhancing the CO2 adsorption/desorption ability of the catalyst at different temperatures as well as the amount of oxygen species were elucidated in detail.
This work was partly supported by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) grant funded by the Korea government (MOTIE) (20214000000090, Fostering human resources training in advanced hydrogen energy industry) and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (no. 2020R1A2C1009054).
