Iron-promoted zirconia-alumina supported Ni catalyst for highly efficient and cost-effective hydrogen production via dry reforming of methane

Developing cost-effective and high-performance catalyst systems for dry reforming of methane (DRM) is crucial for producing hydrogen (H₂) sustainably. Herein, we investigate using iron (Fe) as a promoter and major alumina support in Ni-based catalysts to improve their DRM performance. The addition of iron as a promotor was found to add reducible iron species along with reducible NiO species, enhance the basicity and induce the deposition of oxidizable carbon. By incorporating 1 wt.% Fe into a 5Ni/10ZrAl catalyst, a higher CO₂ interaction and formation of reducible "NiO-species having strong interaction with support" was observed, which led to an ∼80% H₂ yield in 420 min of Time on Stream (TOS). Further increasing the Fe content to 2wt% led to the formation of additional reducible iron oxide species and a noticeable rise in H₂ yield up to 84%. Despite the severe weight loss on Fe-promoted catalysts, high H₂ yield was maintained due to the proper balance between the rate of CH₄ decomposition and the rate of carbon deposit diffusion. Finally, incorporating 3 wt.% Fe into the 5Ni/10ZrAl catalyst resulted in the highest CO₂ interaction, wide presence of reducible NiO-species, minimum graphitic deposit and an 87% H₂ yield. Our findings suggest that iron-promoted zirconia-alumina-supported Ni catalysts can be a cheap and excellent catalytic system for H₂ production via DRM.