Nickel Metal with Various Morphologies: Synthesis and Performances for Catalytic Carbon Dioxide Reforming with Methane

In this research, nickel metal of three different morphologies including nanostar, icosahedra, and microsphere structures were synthesized. It was found nanostar nickel revealed the Ni(111) crystallographic plane with particle size in the range of 150–200 nm and BET surface area of 13 m²/g. The icosahedra nickel also showed the Ni(111) crystallographic plane with larger particle size (300–400 nm) and BET surface area of 20 m²/g, whereas microsphere nickel exhibited the relatively large cluster size (approximately 3 μm) and BET surface area (114 m²/g) as a result of an aggregation of Ni(101) nanoplates. The obtained nickel catalysts were tested for the activity in carbon dioxide reforming with methane. Based on the similar specific surface area of catalysts, nanostar nickel showed the highest carbon dioxide and methane conversions due to its crystallographic structure. At 700 °C, nanostar nickel catalyst exhibited the highest carbon dioxide and methane conversions of 17.6 and 10.5 times higher than those of microsphere nickel catalyst, respectively.