Catalysts for Carbon Dioxide Catalytic Reforming of Methane to Synthesis Gas

The natural resources of methane are abundant, and methane also can be produced from biomass by fermentation process. It is an effective way to use two kinds of greenhouse gases simultaneously through preparation of synthesis gas by CH4-CO2 catalytic reforming, so this technique has a great significance to clean energy and environment protection. In recent years, a great attention has been paid to the catalysts, reaction mechanism and some unconventional means of this process due to their greater advantages compared to other methane conversion techniques. The recent studies in catalysts of this process including catalytic active components, supports, additives, carbon deposition of catalyst and catalyst preparation methods are reviewed in this paper. A series of influencing factors in the resistance to carbon deposition are summarized. The emphasis is on the activity and stability of supported bimetallic catalysts, metal composite oxide catalysts and metal oxide carrier, the influence of preparation methods on catalytic activity and the resistance to carbon deposition, as well as the method of catalyst resistance to carbon deposition and the plasma technologies for CH4-CO2 reforming. The reaction mechanism most researchers considered that the reaction process is principally affected by the surface oxygen atoms, surface hydrogen atoms and the catalyst surface actives, is introduced. Finally, the development trend and future prospects of the bimetallic catalysts, the perovskite type catalysts, the mesoporous type catalysts, the plasma synergetic catalysis technology and the study on the mechanism are given.