Ni/CeO2 catalysts for glycerol steam reforming: Effect of calcination modes on the catalytic performance

Steam reforming of glycerol (GSR) to produce hydrogen has been considered a sustainable and low-cost route for hydrogen production. The selection of a suitable catalyst support is crucial for achieving efficient hydrogen production at lower temperatures. CeO 2 has been widely used in heterogeneous catalysis and exhibits excellent low-temperature catalytic performance. However, different calcination mode may influence catalyst performance. In this study, the Ni/CeO 2 catalyst prepared by rapid calcination mode (Ni/CeO 2 -RC), was used for hydrogen production from GSR, and the Ni/CeO 2 catalyst with the conventional programmed-heating calcination method (Ni/CeO 2 -PC) was applied for comparison. The effect of different calcination modes on the physico-chemical properties of the catalysts was investigated through multiple characterizations such as N 2 adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffraction, hydrogen temperature programmed reduction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, H 2 chemisorption, CO-oxygen storage capacity and conversion, temperature programmed oxidation, and Raman spectroscopy. The rapid calcination mode promoted stronger metal-support interactions in Ni/CeO 2 -RC, inducing the formation of nickel species highly susceptible to reduction due to the electronic effect. Additionally, rapid calcination facilitated the increased incorporation of nickel particles into the cerium dioxide lattice, leading to lattice distortions, thereby contributing to the formation of more oxygen vacancies. The abundant oxygen vacancies promoted the activation of water, thus realizing the high H 2 selectivity of Ni/CeO 2 -RC. Moreover, the strong oxygen storage-release ability of Ni/CeO 2 -RC facilitated the oxidative effect of carbon deposition and the strong Ni–CeO 2 interaction effectively inhibit sintering of nickel nanoparticles on Ni/CeO 2 -RC. Therefore, Ni/CeO 2 -RC exhibited outstanding catalytic stability, remaining active for 35 h without deactivation, whereas Ni/CeO 2 -PC rapidly deactivated after 25 h of reaction.