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In recent years, the dry reforming of methane (DRM) reaction has gained widespread attention due to its effective utilization of two major greenhouse gases. Supported Ni-based catalysts for DRM exhibit a strong dependence on particle size, however, the reaction mechanisms involved remain unclear. In this work, the effect of metal particle size on CO2 activation and CO formation was explored in the DRM reaction using the density functional theory. Nix/MgO (x = 13, 25, 37) was constructed to investigate the CO2 activation and the formation of CO during the DRM reaction. It is found that CO2 is more inclined to undergo chemisorption on Nix/MgO before activation. With the variation in particle size, the main activation pathway of CO2 on the catalyst changes. On the smallest Ni13/MgO, CO2 tends to directly dissociate, while on the larger Ni25/MgO and Ni37/MgO, the hydrogenation dissociation of CO2 is more kinetically favorable. Compared to Ni13/MgO and Ni37/MgO, the oxidation of surface C atoms and the oxidation of CH occur more readily on Ni25/MgO. This indicates that C atoms are less likely to form on Ni25 particle and are more easily to be oxidized. To some extent, the results suggest that Ni25/MgO exhibits superior resistance to carbon formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For dry reforming of methane, the active metal particle size of the catalyst has a significant effect on both the reaction activity and the resistance to carbon deposition. In this study, nickel particles of different sizes (Ni13, Ni25, and Ni37) supported on the MgO(100) slab are used to study the mechanism of CH4 activation and carbon growth based on DFT theoretical calculations. According to the results, the energy of adsorption for reaction intermediates changes depending on the size of the active metal. The adsorption process of CH3, CH2, CH and C on Ni25/MgO has a maximum exothermic value. Furthermore, the energy barriers of CH4 four-step dehydrogenation are lowest on Ni25/MgO during the CH4 activation process. The growth process of carbon deposition on the catalysts is also investigated in this work. The results indicate that the growth of carbon from C5 to C6 is difficult to proceed on Ni13/MgO due to size and active site limitation. Additionally, with an increase in particle size of the active metal, the absolute value of growth energy and average carbon binding energy of Cn increase on both Ni25/MgO and Ni37/MgO. It is proved that smaller particle size presents better resistance to carbon deposition. In the studied size range, Ni25/MgO is demonstrated to have greater catalytic activity and better resistance to carbon deposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of oxygen vacancies on the adsorption and activation of CO2 on the surface of different phases of ZrO2 is investigated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The calculations show that the oxygen vacancies contribute greatly to both the adsorption and activation of CO2. The adsorption energy of CO2 on the c-ZrO2, t-ZrO2 and, m-ZrO2 surfaces is enhanced to 5, 4, and 3 folds with the help of oxygen vacancies, respectively. Moreover, the energy barrier of CO2 dissociation on the defective surfaces of c-ZrO2, t-ZrO2, and m-ZrO2 is reduced to 1/2, 1/4, and 1/5 of the perfect surface with the assistance of oxygen vacancies. Furthermore, the activation of CO2 on the ZrO2 surface where oxygen vacancies are present, and changes from an endothermic reaction to an exothermic reaction. This finding demonstrates that the presence of oxygen vacancies promotes the activation of CO2 both kinetically and thermodynamically. These results could provide guidance for the high-efficient utilization of CO2 at an atomic scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adsorption and growth mechanisms of Cn (n = 1–6) on different Cu–Ni surfaces are calculated by density functional theory (DFT). The results demonstrate that Cu doping affects the growth mechanism of the deposited carbon on the catalyst surface. Firstly, the addition of Cu weakens the interaction between Cn and the adsorbed surface, which is proved by the results of density of states (DOS) and partial density of states (PDOS). The weakening of the interaction allows Cn to perform at higher proportions of Cu-doped surfaces with a behavior consistent with that in the gas phase. A comparison of the growth energies of the different pathways of Cn in the gas phase shows that the main pathway for the Cn growth is chain-to-chain (CC). The CC reaction is also the main pathway for the growth of Cn on the surfaces, which is enhanced by the doping of Cu. In addition, analysis of the growth energy revealed that C2–C3 is the rate-determining step in the growth process of Cn. The doping of Cu enhances the growth energy of this step, contributing to the suppression of the growth of the deposited carbon on the adsorbed surface. Moreover, an average carbon binding energy shows that the doping of Cu on the Ni surface could weaken the structural stability of Cn, favoring the elimination of carbon deposited on the catalyst surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methane activation is a pivotal step in the application of natural gas converting into high-value added chemicals via methane steam/dry reforming reactions. Ni element was found to be the most widely used catalyst. In present work, methane activation on MgO supported Ni-M (M = Fe, Co, Cu, Pd, Pt) cluster was explored through detailed density functional theory calculations, compared to pure Ni cluster. CH4 adsorption on Cu promoted Ni cluster requires overcoming an energy of 0.07 eV, indicating that it is slightly endothermic and unfavored to occur, while the adsorption energies of other promoters M (M = Fe, Co, Pd and Pt) are all higher than that of pure Ni cluster. The role of M on the first C-H bond cleavage of CH4 was investigated. Doping elements of the same period in Ni cluster, such as Fe, Co and Cu, for C-H bond activation follows the trend of the decrease of metal atom radius. As a result, Ni-Fe shows the best ability for C-H bond cleavage. In addition, doping the elements of the same family, like Pd and Pt, for CH4 activation is according to the increase of metal atom radius. Consequently, C-H bond activation demands a lower energy barrier on Ni-Pt cluster. To illustrate the adsorptive dissociation behaviors of CH4 at different Ni-M clusters, the Mulliken atomic charge was analyzed. In general, the electron gain of CH4 binding at different Ni-M clusters follows the sequence of Ni-Cu (−0.02 e) < Ni (−0.04 e) < Ni-Pd (−0.08 e) < Ni-Pt (−0.09 e) < Ni-Co (−0.10 e) < Ni-Fe (−0.12 e), and the binding strength between catalysts and CH4 raises with the CH4 electron gain increasing. This work provides insights into understanding the role of promoter metal M on thermal-catalytic activation of CH4 over Ni/MgO catalysts, and is useful to interpret the reaction at an atomic scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]