Issue 40, 2023

Hierarchical core–shell Ni@C-NCNTs nanocomposites tailored for microwave-induced dry reforming of methane process

Abstract

The dry reforming of methane (DRM) is an important technology for syngas production, but its industrial application has been limited by the extremely high temperatures required to activate the thermodynamically stable CH4 and CO2 molecules. Herein, Ni-MOF-derived Ni@C-NCNTs nanomaterials with hierarchical core–shell structures and N-doped defects were elaborately designed and synthesized as bifunctional microwave absorbers and reforming catalysts by two-step pyrolysis processes. Efficient syngas production via the microwave-induced DRM (MW-DRM) process over Ni@C-NCNTs-5 was achieved. The double-hierarchical Ni@C-NCNTs with different loading amount of defective N-doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs) on the Ni@C microstructures were rationally constructed by modulating the dosage of melamine in the secondary pyrolysis processes, which significantly improved the microwave absorption and conversion capacity and catalytic performance due to the synergistic effect of multiple loss mechanism of the incident microwave and the mitigation of active metal sintering. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations also indicated that surface engineering on the defects of the Ni@C-NCNTs catalysts could strongly promote the electron transfer and thus enhance the adsorption and catalytic activation of CH4 and CO2. More meaningfully, energy efficiency was significantly improved for the MW-DRM process by approximately 31 times than the conventional heating catalytic process owing to the direct, rapid, and highly effective energy transfer process under microwave irradiation. In conclusion, this dimensionally-designed core–shell catalyst demonstrated obvious superiority of catalytic performance and process intensification in the MW-DRM process.

Graphical abstract: Hierarchical core–shell Ni@C-NCNTs nanocomposites tailored for microwave-induced dry reforming of methane process

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
05 Sep 2023
Accepted
22 Sep 2023
First published
22 Sep 2023

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023,11, 21908-21926

Hierarchical core–shell Ni@C-NCNTs nanocomposites tailored for microwave-induced dry reforming of methane process

M. Zhang, Y. Gao, Y. Mao, Y. Jin, W. Wang, J. Sun, Z. Song, J. Sun and X. Zhao, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023, 11, 21908 DOI: 10.1039/D3TA05379B

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements