Structural effect of Ni/TiO2 on CO methanation: improved activity and enhanced stability

CO methanation over a supported Ni catalyst has attracted increasing attention for its applications in synthetic natural gas production, CO removal for ammonia synthesis and fuel cells, among others. However, the deactivation of the Ni catalyst caused by sintering and carbon deposition hinders further application of the Ni catalyst. The activity of Ni catalysts needs further improvement as well. In this work, the structural effect of the Ni/TiO2 catalyst on CO methanation was investigated. A plasma decomposition, initiated at room temperature and operated around 150 degrees C, of the nickel precursor was applied to prepare the catalyst. Compared to the thermally decomposed Ni/TiO2 catalyst, the plasma-decomposed catalyst shows improved activity with enhanced stability. The catalyst characterization shows that the plasma-decomposed Ni/TiO2 catalyst possesses smaller Ni particle size and higher Ni dispersion, resulting in improved coke resistance and enhanced anti-sintering ability for CO methanation. The present study confirms that a catalyst with good activity for CO methanation possesses good activity for CO2 methanation as well, if the CO2 methanation takes the CO methanation pathway.