By converting two greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and natural gas into syngas (carbon monoxide and hydrogen), dry reforming of methane (DRM) has become a prominent research topic in sustainable energy production in recent years. Conventionally DRM reactions have focused on the thermocatalytic route that is endothermic, highly energy-consuming, and the low catalytic stability also hurdles large-scale applications. In this study, we employed a novel approach of synergistic photo-thermo-chemical DRM (PTC-DRM) by using concentrated solar energy. The longer wavelength photons enable thermocatalytic reaction, while the lower wavelength photons activate photocatalytic reaction, thus making PTC-DRM more energy-efficient than conventional thermo-DRM. In our catalyst system, Pt is the metal catalyst for thermo-DRM catalyst and co-catalyst for photocatalytic DRM, while CeO2 serves as the DRM support and semiconductor photocatalyst in the same time. An appropriate amount of Zn doping in CeO2 altered the intrinsic structure of CeO2 and increased the light absorption ability. An atomic layer deposited MgO overcoating further improved the PTC-DRM activity and stability. Under 30 suns irradiation at 600 °C, high production rates of 356 and 516 mmol g-1h-1 for H2 and CO are achieved, which are more than 9 and 3 times larger than those obtained in thermo-DRM. No catalyst deactivation was observed in a 20 h PTC-DRM experiment; whereas, significant deactivation occurred in just a few hours in thermo-DRM.

Synergistic photo-thermo-chemical dry reforming of methane using concentrated solar energy

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.