Regenerability of hydrotalcite-derived nickel-iron alloy nanoparticles for syngas production from biomass tar

Nickel-iron/magnesium/aluminum bimetallic catalysts were prepared by the calcination and reduction of nickel-magnesium-iron-aluminum hydrotalcite-like compounds. Characterization suggests that, at iron/nickel≤0.5, both nickel and iron species are homogeneously distributed in the hydrotalcite precursor and incorporated into the Mg(Ni, Fe, Al)O periclase after calcination, giving rise to uniform nickel-iron alloy nanoparticles after reduction. Ni-Fe/Mg/Al (Fe/Ni=0.25) exhibits the best catalytic performance for the steam reforming of tar derived from the pyrolysis of biomass. It is suggested that the uniform nickel-iron alloy nanoparticles and the synergy between nickel and iron are responsible for the high catalytic performance. Moreover, the Ni-Fe/Mg/Al catalyst exhibits much better regenerability toward oxidation-reduction treatment for the removal of deposited coke than that of conventional Ni-Fe/α-Al₂O₃. This property can be attributed to the better regeneration of Ni-Fe alloy nanoparticles through the formation and reduction of Mg(Ni, Fe, Al)O.