Porous CoCe composite catalyst prepared by hydrothermal assisted soft template method for CH4/CO2 dry reforming.

[Display omitted] • Porous CoCex catalyst can be prepared by hydrothermal assisted soft template method. • Co0 species are the active centers for CH 4 /CO 2 dry reforming. • Ce species can produce strong electronic effects with Co species. • Oxygen vacancies can promote the oxidative elimination of carbon deposition. The CoCex composite catalysts prepared by hydrothermal assisted template agent CTAB, have superior catalytic performances for CH 4 /CO 2 dry reforming (DRM). The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were investigated in depth with the help of XRD, H 2 -TPR, CO 2 -TPD, ICP, Quasi in-situ XPS and N 2 adsorption–desorption measurements. The transition metal Co is the main active center in the DRM reaction, which can easily release the outer electrons in the reaction to activate the reactant molecules. The introduction of Ce species can promote the highly dispersed metal Co species and catalytic active centers to be formed, as well as the adsorption and activation of CO 2 molecules by the catalyst. Ce species can produce strong electronic effects with Co species, which can promote the electron-deficient CeO 2-δ and electron-rich Coδ- species to be formed. The formation of CeO 2-δ species facilitates the adsorption and activation of CO 2 molecules, and the active oxygen species on the CeO 2-δ surface facilitates the oxidative activation for CH 4 molecules. The CH 4 and CO 2 reactant molecules can be adsorbed and activated by the formed Coδ- species to form CH 4-x (x = 0–4) and CO 2 δ- reactive species, which can promote the DRM reaction. The Co/Ce molar ratio has an important effect on the physicochemical properties and CO 2 adsorption performance of CoCex catalysts. And the CoCe2 catalyst prepared at a 2.0 Co/Ce molar ratio exhibited superior catalytic performance and high stability for the DRM reaction. The CH 4 and CO 2 conversion of the CoCe2 catalyst reached 88.6%, and 52.1% at 700 °C, respectively. In addition, the CoCe2 catalyst can maintain high cycle stability for CH 4 /CO 2 dry reforming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]