Diesel reforming to hydrogen over the mesoporous Ni–MgO catalyst synthesized in microfluidic platform

Steam reforming (SR) is a process for converting transportation fuels into hydrogen-rich gas, which can be fed to SOFCs for on-board power supplies. Herein, we prepare Mg_xNi_1-xO (0.5<x < 0.8) with an average particle size in the range of 30.6–35.0 nm in a microfluidic system using a co-precipitation method. Ni particle size, Ni loading, and surface basicity synergistically determine the reforming performance. The Ni(40 wt%)-MgO catalyst demonstrates potential for the SR of n-dodecane, 0^# diesel of China national VI standard, methylbenzene, and methylnaphthalene. The deactivation of the catalysts with time-on-stream is mainly attributed to the sintering of Ni nanoparticles; however, it is almost independent of the negligible amount of carbon deposition. Density functional theory calculations verify that for the same active metal particle size, the energy barrier ratio of the forward to reverse reaction of the CH∗ decomposition of the catalyst is smaller with more Ni doped in the MgO.