(621ep) Catalytic Performance of Supported Doped Nickel Catalysts Toward Direct Nonoxidative Conversion of Methane

With the depletion of petroleum reserves, methane is expected to become an important feedstock for the supply of energy, petro-chemicals and fuels in the future. Consequently, chemical processes that involve conversion of methane to high value chemicals (such as methane dry reforming) will become of paramount importance. The process of methane reforming is traditionally catalyzed by monometallic Ni supported on an oxide catalyst, which results in the formation of carbon deposits that poison these catalysts as well as change their morphology and composition. In this contribution, we discuss the potential of supported doped nickel catalysts such as Ni₂P as active and stable catalysts for methane reforming. Supported doped Ni catalysts exhibit higher resistance to carbon poisoning due to the dilution of the nickel sites with another atom, which hinders the formation of extended carbon structures. We have combined DRIFT spectroscopic studies with activity and selectivity data for methane reforming on supported doped Ni catalysts to develop structure/performance relationships that can aid the discovery of robust catalysts for this process.