Enhanced performance of LaFeO3 oxygen carriers by NiO for chemical looping partial oxidation of methane

Partially oxidizing methane into syngas via a two step chemical looping scheme is a promising option for methane transformation. However, providing the optimum lattice oxygen to selectively produce syngas represents the major challenge for the development of oxygen carrier materials in chemical looping processes. In this work, a NiO-modified LaFeO3 (x wt% Ni/LaFeO3, x = 0, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11) oxygen carrier is proposed to enhance the activity of lattice oxygen for chemical looping partial oxidation of methane. The results show that the methane conversion rate of 5 wt% Ni/LaFeO3 is increased by 25% compared to that of unmodified LaFeO3. It is worth noting that the methane conversion and product selectivity mainly depend on the Ni loading, and 5 wt% Ni/LaFeO3 oxygen carriers has higher CH4 conversion (95.2%) and CO selectivity (85.1%). The results demonstrate that it is feasible to active the lattice oxygen of LaFeO3 perovskite oxygen carriers by surface modification of NiO, which ultimately influences their reaction performance in chemical looping partial oxidation of methane (CL-POM) processes.