The removal of tar
and CO2 in syngas from
biomass gasification
is crucial for the upgrading and utilization of syngas. CO2 reforming of tar (CRT) is a potential solution which simultaneously
converts the undesirable tar and CO2 to syngas. In this
study, a hybrid dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma-catalytic
system was developed for the CO2 reforming of toluene,
a model tar compound, at a low temperature (∼200 °C) and
ambient pressure. Periclase-phase (Mg, Al)O
x
nanosheet-supported NiFe alloy catalysts with various Ni/Fe
ratios were synthesized from ultrathin Ni–Fe–Mg–Al
hydrotalcite precursors and employed in the plasma-catalytic CRT reaction.
The result demonstrated that the plasma-catalytic system is promising
in promoting the low-temperature CRT reaction by generating synergy
between DBD plasma and the catalyst. Among the various catalysts,
Ni4Fe1-R exhibited superior activity and stability because of its
highest specific surface area, which not only provided sufficient
active sites for the adsorption of reactants and intermediates but
also enhanced the electric field in the plasma. Furthermore, the stronger
lattice distortion of Ni4Fe1-R provided more isolated O2– for CO2 adsorption, and having the most intensive interaction
between Ni and Fe in Ni4Fe1-R restrained the catalyst deactivation
induced by the segregation of Fe from the alloy to form FeO
x
. Finally, in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
combined with comprehensive catalyst characterization was used to
elucidate the reaction mechanism of the plasma-catalytic CRT reaction
and gain new insights into the plasma-catalyst interfacial effect.