(631g) Using Ni@Pt Overlayer Catalysts for Dry Reforming of Ethane Reaction

To mitigate global climate changes and produce valuable chemical products, dry reforming of ethane (DRE) is investigated to convert CO₂ and ethane into syngas (H₂ and CO). From the literature, ceria-supported Pt-Ni bimetallic catalysts were found superior compared to monometallic catalysts due to Pt-Ni bimetallic’s unique electronic property and reducibility of ceria. This project aims to utilize the ceria-supported Pt-Ni bimetallic catalysts’ electronic structure and minimize Pt usage by designing Ni@Pt overlayer bimetallic catalysts (core@shell) to achieve desired electronic property for the DRE reaction.

Temperature programmed reduction (TPR) showed both Pt and Ni reduction peaks, and the integrated peaks show the amount of Pt is approximately similar to the Pt needed for a monolayer coverage of parent Ni. Chemisorption isotherm of CO shows a similar curve as the previous Ni@Pt overlayer catalysts supported on alumina, where overlayer catalysts have lower CO adsorption than the monometallic catalysts at low pressure. Pulse chemisorption of H₂ was also performed, where the Ni@Pt overlayer catalysts have minimal adsorption compare to the Pt and Ni monometallic catalysts. Both chemisorption analyses indicate the metal surface electronic structure has been changed, where the overlayer catalysts have been shown to have decreased adsorption strength of CO and H₂ compared to monometallic Pt. The reaction performance data shows that the overlayer catalysts have a more stable performance than the Ni and Pt monometallic and Ni-Pt random structure catalysts. Additionally, the kinetic study of catalysts also shows that the overlayer catalysts have much lower activation energy compared to monometallic catalysts for C₂H₆ and CO₂.

Overlayered catalysts have promising performance compared with monometallic or Pt-Ni random structure bimetallic catalysts. However, additional calculations (DFT) and characterizations such as XAS, HS-LEIS, and in-situ DRIFTS will be conducted to understand the system comprehensively.