Mesoporous MgO•Al2O3 nanopowder-supported meso-macroporous nickel catalysts: a new path to high-performance biogas reforming for syngas

Mesoporous nanocrystalline MgO center dot Al2O3 powders with different MgO/Al2O3 molar ratios were synthesized by a new and simple sol-gel route using C3H6O (propylene oxide) as a gelation agent. The prepared powders were employed as a support for preparation of 10 wt% Ni catalysts in biogas reforming, for the production of synthesis gas. This simple sol-gel method led to the preparation of powders with high BET surface area in the range of 252.8-301.6 m(2) g(-1) depending on the MgO/Al2O3 molar ratio after calcination at 700 degrees C. The samples also exhibited narrow single modal pore size distributions in the mesopore region. The H-2-TPR analysis revealed that increasing the MgO/Al2O3 molar ratio shifted the T-max of the reduction peaks to higher temperature, indicating the lower reducibility of the prepared catalysts with high MgO content. The NH3-TPD also confirmed the increase in basicity of the prepared samples with increasing MgO/Al2O3 molar ratio. The prepared catalysts exhibited high potential as catalysts for biogas reforming with high stability, and the catalysts with higher content of MgO showed higher resistance against carbon formation.