MOFs-derived Ni@ZrO₂ catalyst for dry reforming of methane: Tunable metal-support interaction

Metal-support interaction (MSI) plays an important role in heterogeneous catalysis, that could be well regulated by many strategies. Here, Ni@ZrO₂ catalysts were controllably synthesized by sacrificial Zr-MOFs template strategy, and were applied to the dry reforming of methane (DRM). Amongst, the Ni/ZrO₂-B catalyst shows the best performance toward CH₄ and CO₂ conversion, H₂/CO ratio, and stability, following by Ni/ZrO₂-A and Ni/ZrO_2–C catalysts. The difference in catalytic performance should be ascribed to different synthetic strategy, resulting in different properties of Ni species and ZrO₂ matrix, and interface interaction. It revealed that small Ni particles were benefit for CH₄ activation, and strong MSI boosted CO₂ activation, that could remain the Ni dispersion and thermal stability. This study is beneficial to the catalyst design in DRM reaction.