Study on nanofibrous catalysts prepared by electrospinning for methane partial oxidation

Electrospinning is a simple and efficient technique for fabricating fibrous catalysts. The effects of preparation parameters on catalyst performance were investigated on fibrous Ni/Al₂ O₃ catalysts. The catalyst prepared with H₂ O/C₂ H₅ OH solvent showed higher catalytic activity than that with DMF/C₂ H₅ OH solvent because of the presence of NiO in the catalyst prepared with DMF/C₂ H₅ OH solvent. The metal ion content of the precursor also influences catalyst properties. In this work, the Ni/Al₂ O₃ catalyst prepared with a solution containing the metal ion content of 30 wt % demonstrated the highest Ni dispersion and therefore the highest catalytic performance. Additionally, the Ni dispersion decreased as calcination temperature was enhanced from 700 to 900^◦ C due to the increased Ni particle sizes, which also caused a high reduction temperature and low catalytic activity in methane partial oxidation. Finally, the fibrous Ni/Al₂ O₃ catalysts can achieve high syngas yields at high reaction temperatures and high gas flow rates.