Dry reforming of methane (DRM) represents an alluring approach to the direct conversion of CO2 and CH4, gases with the highest global warming potential, into syngas, a value-added intermediate used in chemical industry. In this study, mixed oxide structures of cerium and zirconium doped with 10 wt% Ni were used due to the high thermal stability. This study showcased the importance of choosing suitable conditions and explored the impact of calcination temperature on Ce–Zr mixed oxides with Ni. XRD analysis confirmed the existence of different crystalline phases according to the calcination temperature. Redox characterisation showed a trade-off among calcination temperature, the dispersion of Ni clusters and its interaction with the support structure. Calcined catalysts at 900 and 1000 °C underwent harsh, long-term DRM conditions. Despite the low surface area of the designed catalysts, the stability experiments proved a relation between dispersion of Ni active phase and catalytic performance, showing an optimum calcination temperature of 1000 °C.

Financial support for this work was gathered from grant PID2019-108502RJ-I00 and grant IJC2019-040560-I both funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 as well as RYC2018-024387-I funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ESF Investing in your future.

Peer reviewed