Synergistic effects in the transition metal catalysed hydrogenation of commercial graphites promoted by Ca(NO3)2 and pretreated with O2 or CO2 Original Research Article

The influence of Fe, Co, Ni and Ca nitrate additives on the gasification of commercial graphite electrodes with hydrogen was characterized by TPR measurements. The order of catalytic activity has been established as Ni > Co > > Fe. The low temperature peaks at 300–400 °C appear on preoxidized surfaces only. Ca, inactive alone, shows strong promotion of the catalytic gasification with hydrogen, especially in the case of the Co catalyst. The highest synergistic effect has been found for the Co/Ca/CO2 activated sample. Samples activated in CO2 show higher reactivity in the methane formation than the samples activated in O2.