%0 Journal Article %@ 19961073 %A Awad, A. %A Ahmed, I. %A Qadir, D. %A Khan, M.S. %A Idris, A. %D 2021 %F scholars:15028 %I MDPI AG %J Energies %K Carbon nanofibers; Catalysts; Copper metallography; Impregnation; Mixtures; Nickel metallography; Nickel oxide, Catalytic decomposition; Catalytic performance; Crystalline morphologies; Fixed-bed catalytic reactors; Impregnation methods; Interaction strength; Structure and performance; Thermocatalytic decomposition, Copper oxides %N 8 %R 10.3390/en14082220 %T Catalytic decomposition of 2 methanol in methane over metallic catalyst by fixed-bed catalytic reactor %U https://khub.utp.edu.my/scholars/15028/ %V 14 %X The structure and performance of promoted Ni/Al2O3 with Cu via thermocatalytic decomposition (TCD) of CH4 mixture (2 CH3OH) were studied. Mesoporous Cat-1 and Cat-2 were synthesized by the impregnation method. The corresponding peaks of nickel oxide and copper oxide in the XRD showed the presence of nickel and copper oxides as a mixed alloy in the calcined catalyst. Temperature program reduction (TPR) showed that Cu enhanced the reducibility of the catalyst as the peak of nickel oxide shifted toward a lower temperature due to the interaction strength of the metal particles and support. The impregnation of 10 Cu on Cat-1 drastically improved the catalytic performance and exhibited 68 CH4 conversion, and endured its activity for 6 h compared with Cat-1, which deactivated after 4 h. The investigation of the spent carbon showed that various forms of carbon were obtained as a by-product of TCD, including graphene fiber (GF), carbon nanofiber (CNF), and multi-wall carbon nanofibers (MWCNFs) on the active sites of Cat-2 and Cat-1, following various kinds of growth mechanisms. The presence of the D and G bands in the Raman spectroscopy confirmed the mixture of amorphous and crystalline morphology of the deposited carbon. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. %Z cited By 0