CO2 reforming of methane over Ni-Ru and Ni-Pd bimetallic catalysts

This paper reports the effect of noble metal addition (Ru, Pd) to supported Ni catalysts towards the reaction of CO2 reforming of methane. On the basis of FT-IR spectra of adsorbed CO, H-2 chemisorption and TPR measurements it has been proposed that the different behaviour of the Ni-based bimetallic catalysts can be related to different metal-metal interactions occurring on the catalysts. In particular, the strong improvement in the activity and stability observed in the case of ex-nitrate Ni-Ru catalysts has been attributed to an enrichment of the catalyst surface in nickel due to the formation of Ni-Ru clusters with the surface mainly covered by Ni. This leads to an increase in the metallic dispersion of Ni and favours the formation of more reactive intermediate carbonaceous species.