CO2 Recycling into Methane and Water over Stable Selective Catalyst Ni/CeO2-nanorods

Carbon dioxide collected from outdoor atmosphere or produced in aerospace cabin, may be recycled to produce methane and water by methanation reaction (Sabatier reaction). This reaction needs a heterogeneous catalyst to decrease the reaction temperature and increase the selectivity. A proper catalyst for in-situ CO2 recycling into methane requires: i) high CO2 conversion with high CH4 selectivity at low operating temperature, ii) high stability towards degradation, being required that catalyst remains highly active during the entire production process. This paper presents a preliminary study of a catalyst based on Ni supported on cerium oxide, prepared by one-pot hydrothermal method, leading to a nanorod morphology with high and uniform nickel dispersion. Morphology and chemical properties of the material were characterized by BET, H2 -TPR, XRD and FE-SEM/EDS. The catalyst was tested in a flow system at atmospheric pressure, using reagents with stoichiometric ratio (CO2 :H2 =1:4) or enriched in hydrogen. The Ni/r-CeO2 catalyst showed high stability over time on stream, in oxidizing condition and after switch off-switch on test