Highly Active Ce- and Mg-Promoted Ni Catalysts Supported on Cellulose-Derived Carbon for Low-Temperature CO(2) Methanation

[Image: see text] The CO(2) methanation performance of Mg- and/or Ce-promoted Ni catalysts supported on cellulose-derived carbon (CDC) was investigated. The samples, prepared by biomorphic mineralization techniques, exhibit pore distributions correlated to the particle sizes, revealing a direct effect of the metal content in the textural properties of the samples. The catalytic performance, evaluated as CO(2) conversion and CH(4) selectivity, reveals that Ce is a better promoter than Mg, reaching higher conversion values in all of the studied temperature range (150–500 °C). In the interval of 350–400 °C, Ni–Mg–Ce/CDC attains the maximum yield to methane, 80%, reaching near 100% CH(4) selectivity. Ce-promoted catalysts were highly active at low temperatures (175 °C), achieving 54% CO(2) conversion with near 100% CH(4) selectivity. Furthermore, the large potential stability of the Ni–Mg–Ce/CDC catalyst during consecutive cycles of reaction opens a promising route for the optimization of the Sabatier process using this type of catalyst.