Origin of the Improved Performance in Lanthanum‐doped Silica‐supported Ni Catalysts

Abstract Dry‐reforming catalysts were prepared by supporting Ni nanoparticles (2–3 nm) on La‐doped silica. These materials display higher activity and stability in low‐temperature dry reforming (773 K) than Ni/SiO 2 or Ni/La 2 O 3 . The La‐doped silica‐supported catalysts were found to have exclusively lanthanum silicate at their surface rather than La 2 O 3 and/or SiO 2 . While an increasing amount of La was found to favor both CO 2 adsorption capacity and strength, it also influenced the hydrogen adsorption strength on nickel particles significantly, as evidenced by H 2 temperature‐programmed desorption analysis. Finally, CH 4 temperature‐programmed reduction analysis revealed that the CH 4 cracking threshold temperature varies in the order: Ni bulk <Ni/La 34 @SiO 2 <Ni/La 2.1 @SiO 2 ≪Ni/SiO 2 <Ni/La 2 O 3 , which parallels the catalytic performance. Balancing the adsorption of CH 4 , H 2 , and CO 2 on supported Ni nanoparticles (2–3 nm) on La‐doped silica improves the catalytic performance of this low‐temperature dry‐reforming catalyst.