Investigation on the Effect of Highly Active Ni/ZrO2 Catalysts Modified by MgO‐Nd2O3 Promoters in CO2 Methanation at Low Temperature Condition

Abstract To improve the catalytic activity of CO 2 methanation at low reaction temperature, four Ni‐based precursors with different auxiliaries were prepared by sol‐gel composite impregnation method. The CO 2 methanation of the catalysts after hydrogen reduction were tested in a fixed bed quartz reactor at 200–450 °C. The properties of the catalysts were further characterized by BET, XRD, H 2 ‐TPD, CO 2 ‐TPD, H 2 ‐TPR, XPS, SEM, TGA and TEM‐EDS. The Ni‐based catalysts followed an activity order of Ni‐MgO‐Nd 2 O 3 /ZrO 2 >Ni‐MgO/ZrO 2 >Ni‐Nd 2 O 3 /ZrO 2 >Ni/ZrO 2 , especially at temperatures below 400 °C. By establishing the correlation between the catalytic performance and structure of the catalyst, it was found that the mixing of Mg, Nd and Ni metal ions in the ZrO 2 lattice results in high dispersion of Ni nanoparticles and good interaction between metal oxides. The composite doped Ni‐based catalysts show good catalytic performance and stability for CO 2 methanation.