The effect of magnetic inducement in support preparation was studied to reduce coke and improve the activity of Ni catalysts for ethanol steam reforming (ESR) at 550–650 °C. Magnetic inducement was introduced to prepare 5 mol % CeO2 in Al2O3 support in order to control the composition and the distribution of Ce in Al2O3. The results show that using CeO2–Al2O3 support with magnetic inducement affects both hydrogen production and coke reduction, where Ni/CeO2–Al2O3 support prepared under magnetic inducement with N–N pole arrangement (Ni/CeO2–Al2O3 (N–N)) exhibited the highest hydrogen production and the lowest coke formation among the catalysts used in this work. Compared with Ni/CeO2–Al2O3 (no magnet), Ni/CeO2–Al2O3 (N–N) catalysts yield 14.0% higher H2 production and 31.7% less coke production. The modified catalyst preparation process used in this study could create catalysts for hydrogen production from ESR which are high in performance and stability but low in preparation cost.

Catalytic activity of Ni catalysts for NH3 decomposition can be enhanced by using Ce‐doped Al2O3 support. Magnetic inducement during sol‐gel preparation of supports was studied to enhance the Ce dispersion in Al2O3 framework. In this study, the same poles and different pole of magnetic arrangement were applied during the sol‐gel preparation. Ni catalysts over the supports were investigated for the NH3 decomposition activity along with catalyst and support properties, including Ce dispersion in Al2O3 framework, Ni dispersion, acidic sites, basic sites, and reaction kinetics. The magnetic inducement can control the Ce composition and uniformity in the Al2O3 framework. The Ni/Ce‐doped Al2O3 prepared under the same poles of magnetic inducement show significant improvements in Ni dispersion, and yield highest catalytic activity due to a high Ce composition and uniformity in the framework, as well as the high Lewis basic sites which enhance the limiting step of NH3 decomposition. Thus, combination of the partial doping with magnetic inducement provides a novel approach with low cost to improve the activity of Ni catalyst without changing the reaction mechanism.

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