CO
2
reforming of methane was studied at medium temperature
(700 °C) using a GSHV of 48,000 h
–1
over nickel
catalysts supported on ZrO
2
promoted by alumina. The catalysts
were prepared by a one-step synthesis method and characterized by
BET, H
2
-TPR, XRD, XPS, TEM, Raman spectroscopy, and TGA.
The NiO–10Al
2
O
3
–ZrO
2
catalyst exhibited higher catalytic performance in comparison with
the NiO–ZrO
2
catalyst. The enhancement of catalytic
activity in dry reforming could be associated with the alterations
in surface properties due to Al promotion. First, the Al promoter
could modify the structure of ZrO
2
, leading to an increase
of its pore volume and pore diameter. Second, the NiO–10Al
2
O
3
–ZrO
2
catalyst exhibited high
resistance to sintering. Third, the NiO–10Al
2
O
3
–ZrO
2
catalyst showed high suppression to
the loss of nickel during a long-term catalytic test. Finally, the
addition of Al could inhibit the reduction of ZrO
2
during
the reduction and reaction, endowing further the stability.