Methane reforming reactions over Ni/Ce-ZrO₂, Ni/La-ZrO₂ and Ni/Si-ZrO₂ catalysts

Methane reforming reactions such as steam reforming of methane (SRM) and oxy-reforming of methane (ORM) have been carried out over Ni/Ce-ZrO₂, Ni/La-ZrO₂ and Ni/Si-ZrO₂ catalysts. It was found that Ni/Ce-ZrO₂ exhibits the highest activity as well as stability among the catalysts tested even though they do not have significant difference in characteristic data such as BET surface area, Ni surface area, th uptake and so on. Thus, it was confirmed that the remarkable activities of Ni/Ce-ZrO₂ in methane reforming reactions are due to the role of a Ce-ZrO₂ support resulting from strong metal support interaction and high oxygen storage capacity.