Catalytic Properties of Chemically Pretreated Ni3Al/Ni Two-Phase Alloy Foils for Methane Steam Reforming

We carried out methane steam reforming on the chemically pretreated Ni3Al/Ni two-phase alloy foils. The chemical pretreatment included two steps: acid leaching followed by alkali leaching. The chemically pretreated foils showed much higher activity than non-treated foils. The catalytic activity of the pretreated foils rapidly increased during the first several hours, and then reached a high-level steady state during the subsequent reaction. The surface morphology analysis revealed that many fine Ni particles were formed during the reaction. We considered that these Ni particles contributed to the increase of catalytic activity during the initial stage of the reaction.