In situ generation of active motifs on Ni/Al2O3 during partial oxidation of methane to syngas
Abstract The active phase for the partial oxidation of methane (POM) to syngas on Ni catalysts has been attributed to metallic nanoparticles, with high Ni loadings (~10 wt%) considered essential. Here we show, on NiO surfaces, that in situ-generated [Ni 1 O 1 Ni 4 ] motifs, where one Ni atom sits on an oxygen atom that bridges four surrounding Ni atoms, drive POM with promising efficiency. A Ni/Al 2 O 3 -ME catalyst with Ni loading of 0.8 wt% fabricated via deposition of preformed Ni nanoparticles onto Al 2 O 3 achieves 92.0% CH 4 conversion and 87.0% CO/H 2 selectivity at 650 °C for POM, maintaining a stable H 2 /CO ratio of 2.0. Operando spectroscopy and environmental microscopy confirm the oxidation of metallic Ni to NiO during POM. The results of operando high-resolution annular bright-field imaging, combined with density functional theory calculations, suggest that the [Ni 1 O 1 Ni 4 ] structure formed on the NiO(100) surface reduces the C–H activation barrier to 12.5 kcal mol −1 . Thus, metallic Ni nanoparticles with high metal loadings may not be strictly required for efficient POM.
Authors
- Hongwen Guo
- Han Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2371-6426)
- Chaobin Zeng
- Graham J. Hutchings (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8885-1560)
- Jingyuan Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0854-8209)
- Tao Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1634-6025)
- Guang Xian Pei
- Tao Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9470-7215)
- Wei Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4403-737X)
- Aiqin Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4552-0360)
- Xiaoyan Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2694-2306)
- Chen Liang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3572-5043)
- James Hayward
- Qiao Zhao
- Yuanlong Tan
- Fengyuan Liu
Institutions
- Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Dalian University of Technology (CN)
- Hua Yuan Group (China) (CN)
- Shanghai Advanced Research Institute (CN)
- Shanghai Jinyuan Senior High School (CN)
- Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Cardiff University (GB)
- Xi'an Jiaotong University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Catalysis
- Published
- 2026-08-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-026-01580-1
- Primary Topic
- Catalysts for Methane Reforming
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Salt Science Research Foundation
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- China Scholarship Council
- Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province
- Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics
- Youth Innovation Promotion Association
- Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi Province