Four challenges for nickel steam-reforming catalysts

Reforming over supported nickel catalysts has been used commercially for more than 40 years. In this paper four catalytic challenges for nickel steam reforming catalysts are discussed from both a practical and a fundamental point of view. The four challenges are activity, sulphur poisoning, carbon formation and sintering. A coherent microscopic picture of these important aspects of the working catalyst is emerging from classic studies and is now extended by in situ TEM and DFT calculations of atomic-scale relationships between structure and catalyst properties and new knowledge about sintering.