Electrospinning is a simple and efficient technique for fabricating fibrous catalysts. The effects of preparation parameters on catalyst performance were investigated on fibrous Ni/Al2O3 catalysts. The catalyst prepared with H2O/C2H5OH solvent showed higher catalytic activity than that with DMF/C2H5OH solvent because of the presence of NiO in the catalyst prepared with DMF/C2H5OH solvent. The metal ion content of the precursor also influences catalyst properties. In this work, the Ni/Al2O3 catalyst prepared with a solution containing the metal ion content of 30 wt % demonstrated the highest Ni dispersion and therefore the highest catalytic performance. Additionally, the Ni dispersion decreased as calcination temperature was enhanced from 700 to 900 °C due to the increased Ni particle sizes, which also caused a high reduction temperature and low catalytic activity in methane partial oxidation. Finally, the fibrous Ni/Al2O3 catalysts can achieve high syngas yields at high reaction temperatures and high gas flow rates.
Study on Nanofibrous Catalysts Prepared by Electrospinning for Methane Partial Oxidation