The reaction kinetics of CO2 methanation on a bifunctional Ni/MgO catalyst

A bifunctional Ni/MgO catalyst was prepared to catalyze CO2 methanation and make use of CO2 as an abundant hydrogen storage facility. The effect of Ni loading and MgO quality on the rate of methanation was tested in a temperature range of 533–648 K. The Ni loading was varied between 0 to 27 wt.% on MgO. To investigate the impact of matrix elements, a MgO/CaO support was tested with 21 wt.% nickel loading. Further, the role of MgO in the bifunctional catalyst was proven. The reaction kinetics was modeled with a Langmuir–Hinshelwood approach considering the bifunctional character of the catalyst. Nickel provides the adsorbent capacity for hydrogen and is highly selective for methane. MgO activates CO2 through chemisorption. Increasing Ni loading of the catalyst increased the rate of CO2 conversion. According to the results, the mechanism of CO2 methanation did not change with Ni loading. The Ni/MgO catalyst acted as a robust, active and highly selective catalyst for CO2 methanation. With CO2 conversion of 87%, the selectivity to methane was ≥99%. Besides excellent catalytic activity the catalysts suffice the necessity of simple catalyst preparation, usage and recyclability for industrial applicability of CO2 methanation.