A novel nickel-based catalyst for methane dry reforming: A metal honeycomb-type catalyst prepared by sol-gel method and electroless plating

A honeycomb-type nickel-based catalyst was prepared by a combination technique consisting of a sol-gel method and an electroless plating method on a stainless steel substrate. The catalyst layer formed onto the fin substrate consisted of an alumina layer and a nickel component. The alumina layer was porous and was about 7 μm in thickness, and the nickel component was deposited not only on the alumina surface but also inside the pores. The nickel particles formed on the surface were 70-150 nm in diameter. The prepared nickel-based honeycomb catalyst demonstrated a high performance for methane dry reforming, indicating that the catalyst degradation was quite small even under severe CO₂/CH₄ conditions. The amount of the deposited carbon onto the nickel-based catalyst was much smaller than that on the commercial catalyst, which was thought to be one of the factors in the reduced deterioration of this honeycomb catalyst. Furthermore, the H₂/CO ratio as a synthesis gas over this nickel-based catalyst was a smaller value than that of the commercial catalyst, which is a convenient reforming property for alkane manufacturing. The deposited carbon on the nickel-based honeycomb catalyst was a whisker carbon with non-condensed state.