Promoting Effect of Nb2O5 Addition to Ni–Cu Catalysts on Hydrogen Production via Methane Decomposition

The catalytic decomposition of methane to hydrogen and filamentous carbon was carried out over Ni–Cu–Nb2O5 catalysts. The results indicate that the addition of Nb2O5 can promote the carbon capacity of Ni–Cu catalysts, and increase the lifetime of the catalysts in methane decomposition at high temperature. The highest yield of carbon is 743 gC/gNi for 65Ni–10Cu–5Nb2O5, which is one of the highest values among those for catalysts reported so far.