Efficient photothermal catalytic methane dry reforming over rich oxygen vacancy catalysts

Abstract

The catalysts of Ni nanoparticles supported on ZrO2, La2O3 and La2Zr2O7 were prepared and employed in photothermal catalytic DRM. High yield of H2 and CO (76.2 and 99.1 mmol g-1 min-1) and excellent durability (50 h) were achieved merely under focused light irradiation. 10Ni/La2O3 exhibited better resistance to carbon deposition compared to 10Ni/ZrO2 and 10Ni/La2Zr2O7. Structural characterization and experimental data indicated that La2O3 has abundant oxygen vacancies, which can adsorb and activate CO2 to produce reactive oxygen species. Oxygen species transfer to nickel nanoparticles through the strong Ni-La2O3 interface to accelerate carbon oxidation. The experimental results indicated that light illumination can not only drive DRM reactions through photothermal conversion, but also improve catalytic activity by reducing the activation energy of reaction molecules and stability by increasing the of oxygen vacancies.