Pt-Co acetate complex deposited on hydrotalcite-like support – Effective precursor of catalyst for hydrogen and syngas production by partial oxidation and dry reforming of methane

Partial oxidation and dry reforming of methane processes are promising approaches to the production of hydrogen and synthesis gas for hydrogen energy and several petrochemical processes, including liquid fuels production. In this work, a novel high-performance platinum-cobalt catalyst of hydrogen and syngas production by the reactions of partial oxidation of methane (POM) and carbon dioxide (dry) reforming of methane (DRM) has been synthesized. The catalyst precursor was synthesized by a simple method that included impregnation of the magnesium-alumina hydrotalcite-like support with the aqueous solution of a heterometallic platinum-cobalt acetate complex followed by calcination. The fresh and spent catalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, EDX, XRF, TGA, H2-TPR, low-temperature nitrogen physisorption, XPS, etc. The catalyst has shown high performance in hydrogen and syngas production via the DRM and POM reactions at 600–900 °C without pre-reduction with hydrogen. At 800–900 °C close to quantitative yields of hydrogen and synthesis gas were observed. The catalyst exhibited a stable performance in the DRM reaction for 60 h. It was shown that dispersed nanoscale platinum-cobalt alloy particles are formed over the magnesium–aluminum complex oxide support in the DRM and POM processes. These particles demonstrated high sintering resistance. According to the XPS data, after long-term DRM tests, the catalyst also contained platinum in various oxidation states.