Synergistic effects of Ni–Fe alloy catalysts on dry reforming of methane at low temperatures in an electric field

Dry reforming of methane (DRM) is a promising reaction able to convert greenhouse gases (CO2 and CH4) into syngas: an important chemical feedstock. Several difficulties limit the applicability of DRM in conventional thermal catalytic reactions; it is an endothermic reaction that requires high temperatures, resulting in high carbon deposition and a low H2/CO ratio. Catalysis with the application of an electric field (EF) at low temperatures can resolve these difficulties. Synergistic effects with alloys have also been reported for reactions promoted by the application of EF. Therefore, the synergistic effects of low-temperature DRM and Ni-Fe bimetallic catalysts were investigated using various methods and several characterisations (XRD, XPS, FE-STEM, etc.), which revealed that Ni-Fe binary catalysts show high performance in low-temperature DRM. In particular, the Ni0.8Fe0.2 catalyst supported on CeO2 was found to carry out DRM in EF effectively and selectively by virtue of its bimetallic characteristics.