Abstract
Dry reforming of methane (DRM) is a well-known process in which CH(4) and CO(2) catalytically react to produce syngas. Solid carbon is a well-known byproduct of the DRM but is undesirable as it leads to catalyst deactivation. However, converting CO(2) and CH(4) into solid carbon serves as a promising carbon capture and sequestration technique that has been demonstrated in this study by two patented processes. In the first process, known as CARGEN technology (CARbon GENerator), a novel concept of two reactors in series is developed that separately convert the greenhouse gases (GHGs) into multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and syngas. CARGEN enables at least a 50% reduction in energy requirement with at least 65% CO(2) conversion compared to the DRM process. The second process presents an alternative pathway for the regeneration/reactivation of the spent DRM/CARGEN catalyst using CO(2). Provided herein is the first report on an experimental demonstration of a 'switching' technology in which CO(2) is utilized in both the operation and the regeneration cycles and thus, finally contributing to the overall goal of CO(2) fixation. The following studies support all the results in this work: physisorption, chemisorption, XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM, TGA, ICP, and Raman analysis.