CO2 reforming of methane over zirconia-supported nickel catalysts, II. Thermogravimetric analysis

Thermogravimetric analysis has been used to study carbon deposition during the CO2 reforming of methane over Ni/ZrO2 catalysts. The carbon deposits form on the reduced catalyst at a very fast rate during temperature-programmed surface reaction of reforming, and reach a steady state below 973 K. So, the amount of deposited carbon remains constant on the catalyst during the reaction at 973 K. A relationship between the amount of deposited carbon and the activity reveals that the initially formed carbon acts as a reaction intermediate and reacts with CO2 to produce CO.