Cyclic oxygen exchange capacity of Ce-doped VO materials for syngas production high-temperature thermochemical-looping reforming of methane.

Synthesis gas production solar thermochemical reduction-oxidation reactions is a promising pathway towards sustainable carbon-neutral fuels. The redox capability of oxygen carriers with considerable thermal and chemical stability is highly desirable. In this study, we report Ce-doped VO structures for high-temperature thermochemical-looping reforming of methane coupled to HO and CO splitting reactions. Incorporation of fractional amounts of large cerium cations induces a V to V transition and partially forms a segregated CeVO phase. More importantly, the effective combination of efficient ion mobility of cerium and high oxygen exchange capacity of vanadia achieves synergic and cyclable redox performance during the thermochemical reactions, whereas the pure vanadia powders undergo melting and show non-cyclic redox behaviour. These materials achieve noteworthy syngas production rates of up to 500 mmol mol min during the long-term stability test of 100 CO splitting cycles. Interestingly, the cerium ions are mobile between the lattice and the surface of the Ce-doped vanadia powders during the repeated reduction and oxidation reactions and contribute towards the cyclic syngas production. However, this also causes the formation of the CeVO phase in Ce-rich powders, which increases the H/CO ratios and lowers fuel selectivity, which can be controlled by optimizing the cerium concentration. These findings are noteworthy towards the experimental approach of evaluating the oxygen carriers with the help of advanced characterization techniques.