The Effect of Preparation Method on the Activity of Bimetallic Ni-Fe Catalyst in Dry Reforming of Methane

This paper investigates the effects of Fe/Ni ratio (0.5-2) and polyvinyl alcohol to total metal ratio (PVA/(Ni+Fe)=0.5-1.5) on the performance of bimetallic (Ni-Fe) catalysts in dry reforming of methane. The activity, stability, and H2/CO ratio of the catalysts are tested. The effects of both metal ratio and shell factor on the catalyst performance have been studied. The nickel-ferrite catalysts were prepared by the sol-gel method. Shell factor is employed for controlling the size of the particles. The samples were characterized by XRD, BET, SEM, and TGA. The catalysts were tested at 800˚C in the micro-reactor with a feed ratio of CH4/CO2=1/1. The catalyst prepared with Fe/Ni=2 and PVA/(Ni+Fe)=0.5 ratio shows the best activity and stability with 30 h time on stream. It can be attributed to NiFe2O4 as the only available phase after calcination and smaller crystal size at the optimum values of Fe/Ni and PVA/(Ni+Fe) ratio.