Catalytic Pyrolysis of Waste Textiles for Hydrogen-Rich Syngas Production over NiO/Al2O3 Catalyst

Hydrogen production through the catalytic pyrolysis of low-value organic solid waste offers a promising low-carbon and environmentally friendly pathway. However, the design of efficient hydrogen-producing catalysts remains a significant challenge. Herein, NiO/Al2O3 as a catalyst precursor was utilized to investigate the effects of reduction temperature gradients (300–800 °C) on the distribution of three-phase products and the composition of gaseous products during the pyrolysis of waste textiles. Compared to unreduced NiO/Al2O3, increasing the reduction temperature (300–700 °C) led to a gradual decrease in liquid-phase products and a notable increase in gas-phase products, with the latter rising by 10.59% at 700 °C. Most strikingly, hydrogen gas production increased by 6.42% under the same conditions. Multi-characterization analyses, including XRD, TEM, and H2-TPR, revealed significant aggregation of highly dispersed Ni species in NiO/Al2O3 at higher reduction temperatures. The emergence of XRD characteristic peaks and the (111) crystal face of metallic Ni (Ni0) became apparent at 700 °C. More importantly, the XPS test inferred that the increasement of hydrogen-rich gas production was ascribed to the appropriate Ni0/Ni2+ ratio, and the highest hydrogen yield of 41.50% was achieved as the Ni0/Ni2+ ratio reached about 1.57. This work not only provides an effective solution for the consumption of waste textiles, but also converts it into high value-added hydrogen-rich gas.