Hydrogen Production from Methane Cracking in Dielectric Barrier Discharge Catalytic Plasma Reactor Using a Nanocatalyst

The study experimentally investigated a novel approach for producing hydrogen from methane cracking in dielectric barrier discharge catalytic plasma reactor using a nanocatalyst. Plasma-catalytic methane (CH 4 ) cracking was undertaken in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) catalytic plasma reactor using Ni/MgAl 2 O 4 . The Ni/MgAl 2 O 4 was synthesised through co-precipitation followed customised hydrothermal method. The physicochemical properties of the catalyst were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy—energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDX) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The Ni/MgAl 2 O 4 shows a porous structure spinel MgAl 2 O 4 and thermal stability. In the catalytic-plasma methane cracking, the Ni/MgAl 2 O 4 shows 80% of the maximum conversion of CH 4 with H 2 selectivity 75%. Furthermore, the stability of the catalyst was encouraging 16 h with CH 4 conversion above 75%, and the selectivity of H 2 was above 70%. This is attributed to the synergistic effect of the catalyst and plasma. The plasma-catalytic CH 4 cracking is a promising technology for the simultaneous H 2 and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) production for energy storage applications.