Development of Supported Zn-Cu Bimetallic and Zn-Cu-Mo Trimetallic Heterogeneous Catalysts for Dry Reforming of CO2 with Methane

Development of Supported Zn-Cu Bimetallic and Zn-Cu-Mo Trimetallic Heterogeneous Catalysts for Dry Reforming of CO2 with Methane Global warming caused by greenhouse gas emission has been becoming more of an issue as the years progress. CO2 and methane are two major greenhouse gas and methane is a major component of the aboundant natural gas. Combinng CO2 and CH4 in a single process to produce value added chemicals is very desirable. The primary objective of this study is to develope novel Zn based catalysts to enhance the reaction of CO2 with CH4. The heterogeneous Zn-based bimetallic and trimetallic catalysts were synthesized via a wet incipient impregnation method to uniformly coat the metal salts to the pre-treated support (Ce-ZrO2). The catalyst was dried in the oven at 80 degrees C for two hours before subjected to the furnace to calcine at 450 degrees C for five hours. The synthesized catalysts are to be tested for CO2 dry reforming with methane through a flow bed reactor with controlled CO2 and CH4 flow rate and on-line GC analysis to determine the catalyst performance such as selectivity, conversion and stability. Catalyst characterization such as Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) surface area, pore size and volume, Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and CO Chemisorption and Temperature Programed Reaction (TPR) will be carried out at Brookhaven National Laboratory with an aim to establish relationships between activity and properties. The fundamental study will serve as great guidance for us to understand the reaction pathway of dry reforming of CO2 with CH4