Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Combined with Ce-Ni Mesoporous catalysts for CO2 splitting to CO

A process of CO2 decomposition in dielectric barrier discharge reactor using mesoporous CeO2-NiO catalysts was studied. Mesoporous materials of MCM-41, SBA-15 and MCF types were used in this study to investigate the influence of the material structure on CO2 decomposition efficiency. The obtained catalysts were characterized by physico-chemical methods: low temperature N-2 adsorption, X-Ray diffraction and X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy. CO2 conversion, CO yield and CO selectivity as well as energy efficiency and specific energy input were calculated. The comparison of process efficiency was conducted with that in the absence of any catalyst (plasma-only reactor). It was shown that in the presence of Ce-based catalysts, the conversion of CO2 (from 11 to 19%) and CO yield rise significantly, while CeNi samples show minor performance in CO2 plasma-catalytic dissociation. Porous characteristics affected the performance of CO2 decomposition. Using wide-porous MCF-type material as a support, it was possible to achieve the highest conversion due to enhanced CO2 adsorption in pores and subsequent plasma-catalytic decomposition. The combination of mesoporous silica material as a support and a CeO2 as an active component is promising for the plasma-catalytic CO2 splitting.