Mechanochemical activation of catalysts for CO2 methanation Original Research Article

The hydrogenation of CO2 to CH4 was carried out using MgO-mixed catalysts of Ru, Ni, Fe or their combinations at temperatures ranging from 80 to 150°C under initial pressures of 100 Torr CO2 and 500 Torr H2. The effect of the mechanical milling of catalysts on the reaction was investigated. It was found that (1) the yield of CH4 strongly depended on the kind of catalysts; the highest yield was achieved with RuMgO catalyst and the lowest yield with NiFe catalyst. (2) Mechanochemically activated catalysts largely increased the production rate of CH4 and considerably decreased the activation energy of the reaction from 74 kJ/mol to 41 kJ/mol for RuMgO catalyst.