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NiFe 2 O 4 production from α‐Fe 2 O 3 via improved solid state reaction: Application as catalyst in CH 4 dry reforming
Author(s) -
Chamoumi Mostafa,
Abatzoglou Nicolas
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.22561
Subject(s) - catalysis , spinel , stoichiometry , thermogravimetric analysis , temperature programmed reduction , materials science , hematite , yield (engineering) , hydrogen , analytical chemistry (journal) , scanning electron microscope , carbon dioxide reforming , hydrogen production , nuclear chemistry , chemistry , syngas , metallurgy , organic chemistry , composite material
A new, less‐material‐intensive, and fast protocol was developed to synthesize NiFe 2 O 4 spinel from hematite α‐Fe 2 O 3 . This is a solid state reaction at relatively low severity and short milling time (2–10 min). The product was characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, temperature‐programmed reduction, thermogravimetric analysis, and BET specific surface area. The produced NiFe 2 O 4 was tested as a methane dry reforming catalyst (CH 4 + CO 2 ) to compare its activity with similar Ni‐Fe spinels reported in the literature. XRD revealed that under stoichiometric conditions, the resulting formulation contains only pure NiFe 2 O 4 , in a crystalline spinel structure. The catalytic performance of NiFe 2 O 4 during CH 4 dry reforming, at 800 °C for 4 h and a stoichiometric molar ratio of CO 2 /CH 4 = 1, is described by the following results: CH 4 conversion rose to about 40 % after 30 min over time‐on‐stream (TOS), then decreased more slowly to 25 % after 4 h of TOS. Over the same period, hydrogen (H 2 ) yield increased to 50 % during the first 1 h of TOS, then following the same pattern as CH 4 conversion, it dropped to 30 % over the next 4 h of TOS. These results show that the tested NiFe 2 O 4 is better than those reported in the literature for similar catalytic use of nanometric NiFe 2 O 4 .