NiCe bimetallic nanoparticles embedded in hexagonal mesoporous silica (HMS) for reverse water gas shift reaction

Reverse water gas shift (RWGS) reaction is a crucial process in CO2 utilization. Herein, Ni- and NiCe-containing hexagonal mesoporous silica (Ni-HMS and NiCe-HMS) catalysts were synthesized using an in-situ one-pot method and applied for RWGS reaction. At certain reaction temperatures 500-750 °C, Ni-HMS samples displayed a higher selectivity to the preferable CO than that of conventionally impregnated Ni/HMS catalyst. This could be originated from the smaller NiO nanoparticles over Ni-HMS catalyst. NiCe-HMS exhibited higher activity compared to Ni-HMS. The catalysts were characterized by means of TEM, XPS, XRD, H2-TPR, CO2-TPD, EPR and N2 adsorption-desortion technology. It was found that introduction of Ce created high concentration of oxygen vacancies, served as the active site for activating CO2. Also, this work analyzed the effect of the H2/CO2 molar ratio on the best NiCe-HMS. When reaction gas H2/CO2 molar ratio was 4 significantly decreased the selectivity to CO at low temperature, but triggered a higher CO2 conversion which is close to the equilibrium.