Dry reforming - from understanding the elementary steps to better catalysts

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Catalytic dry methane reforming is an important, highly endothermic route to CO rich synthesis gas. Because carbon formation is thermodynamically favored under all conditions, the reaction can only be stabilized by kinetic control. We propose a collaborative study of laboratories at the Institute of Isotopes of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (IoI), the Technische Universität Wien (TUW) and the Technische Universität München (TUM) to elucidate and understand the elementary reactions of methane reforming with CO2 on supported Pt and Ni catalysts (modified with Au) under a wide variety of reaction conditions and to use this knowledge in the quest for a new generation of highly active and stable catalysts. The insight required for designing catalysts will include the knowledge of the nature and geometrical properties of the metal particles, the way these are anchored to and interact with the support, as well as the rates of elementary steps in this complex and multiply coupled reaction. UHV model studies (TUW) address the specific properties of oxide supports and metal nanoparticles via surface science methods, focusing on the nature of interaction and reaction with reactants and products. Novel robust and stable nanostructured catalysts will be synthesized using a sol-gel approach (IoI) and are expected to facilitate a successful transition from noble to base metals. The kinetic and spectroscopic characterization (TUM) of dispersed catalysts will provide the necessary quantitative information on the dispersed catalysts at the main stages of preparation and reaction. In situ spectroscopic characterization will help not only to develop a scalable synthesis, but will also serve to understand the changes the catalyst undergoes during the reaction. The kinetic evaluation under stationary and transient conditions will provide a rigorous kinetic model to explain catalytic behavior and give feedback to catalyst synthesis.