Alumina Support for Cobalt Catalyst in a Methane Dry Reforming Reaction: The Role of Water Content in a Solvent Medium

This study aimed to synthesize alumina from an inorganic aluminum nitrate precursor in various binary solvent systems of ethanol and water using the sol-gel self-assembly (SSA) method, employing a triblock copolymer, pluronic P123, as the pore-directing agent. The resulting materials were implemented as a support for the cobalt (Co) catalyst in a methane dry reforming (MDR) reaction at 1073 K under 1 atm. Regardless of the water percentage used in the support synthesis, the methane dry reforming reaction over Co catalysts on alumina supports showed the negligible change in conversion during the 12 h reaction. Moreover, there was evidence of large quantities of amorphous carbon and graphitic carbon on the spent catalyst surface. However, the low oxidation temperature of these deposited carbons could help maintain the balance between the carbon formation and the carbon elimination processes on the catalyst surface during the reforming reaction, hence prolonging the lifetime of the catalyst. The high conversion of methane (CH4) from 64.6% to 82.8% and carbon dioxide (CO2) from 70.7% to 86.6% for the MDR reaction over the as-prepared alumina-supported Co catalyst demonstrated a significant improvement in catalyst production for the MDR reaction from the viewpoint of large-scale applications.