Nano-MgO: novel preparation and application as support of Ni catalyst for CO2 reforming of methane

A novel preparation method for MgO nanocrystals was reported. This new meth od makes use of a conventional hydrogel of Mg(OH)(2) derived from inorganic magnesium chloride. A change to alcogel of the hydrogel by repeated wash w ith anhydrous ethanol followed by processing the alcogel at elevated temper ature with flowing dry nitrogen under normal pressure leads to a good contr ol of the sizes of MgO nanocrystals (10-12 nm) that are able to resist "sin tering" up to 650 degreesC without significant loss of the surface area. Th is alcogel-based normal-pressure processing proved to be superior to the hi gh-pressure alcogel-supercritical drying synthesis of the nanocrystals. Pri mary application of the MgO nanocrystals for support of nickel catalyst was successful and gave promising results for highly active as well as very st able Ni/MgO catalysts for the dry reforming of methane to produce syngas. ( C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.