Effect of Preparation Method on the Structure of NiCe Catalysts and CO 2 Methanation Performance

Abstract

CO 2 methanation not only reduces CO 2 emissions but also enables the efficient utilization of carbon resources. The development of highly efficient and stable catalysts is crucial for the application of this reaction. CeO 2 supported Ni catalyst (NiCe) showed high potential for CO 2 methanation. In this paper, we prepared Ni 3 Ce 1 catalysts by three preparation methods: urea hydrothermal method (UHT), coprecipitation method (CP), and sol–gel method (SG), to establish a rational design framework by quantitatively decoupling metal–support interactions (MSI). By comparing the effects of preparation parameters including hydrothermal temperature, precipitation pH, and complexing agent‐to‐metal ion ratios, on catalyst structure and CO 2 methanation performance, the optimal catalysts for each method were identified. Among them, the catalyst Ni 3 Ce 1 ‐CP‐12 prepared by CP, exhibited the best performance, achieving CO 2 conversion as high as 84.6% at 300 °C with good selectivity. This is attributed to its enhanced reducibility, increased surface oxygen vacancies, suitable distribution of basic sites and high surface Ni 0 sites.