Precipitation of Ni nanoparticle on Al2O3 powders by novel rotary chemical vapor deposition

Abstract

Ni nanoparticles were precipitated on Al2O3 support powder by rotary chemical vapor deposition (RCVD). The Ni nanoparticle size increased from 8 to 62nm in diameter and the content of Ni decreased from 6.6 to 2.4mass % with increasing Al2O3 powder diameter (D Al2O3) from 80nm to 150 μm. The catalytic activity of Ni precipitated Al2O3 (Ni/Al2O3) powder was evaluated by the hydrogen production rate (RH2) in a methanol-steam flow. The RH2 decreased with increasing D Al2O3 and increased with increasing specific surface area of Ni/Al2O3 powder. The highest RH2 of Ni/Al 2O3 powder was 709 × 10-3 mol kg -1 s-1 at 633 K, DNi = 8nm and D Al2O3 = 80nm. © 2013 The Ceramic Society of Japan. All rights reserved.