CO2 methanation on Ni/Ce0.5Zr0.5O2 catalysts for the production of synthetic natural gas

A series of nickel catalysts supported on Ce0.5Zr0.5O2 were prepared by impregnation (IMP), deposition–precipitation (DP) and urea combustion (UC) methods. Their performances of CO2 methanation were investigated for the production of synthetic natural gas from coal. The catalysts were characterized by BET, H2-chemisorption, XRD, Raman, XPS, CO2-TPD and H2-TPR techniques. The results indicated that Ni/Ce0.5Zr0.5O2 catalysts prepared by impregnation method showed the highest activity. It can attain 73% CO2 conversion at 300 °C with a reaction rate of 20.5 mmol CO2/(gcat min) and have a CH4 selectivity of 100%. The higher activity of IMP sample is due to its higher nickel surface area, oxygen vacancies, Ce(III) and basic sites than others.