Nickel-containing silica catalysts (Ni-SiO₂) were synthetized via two methods: i) a modified direct synthesis and ii) incipient impregnation (as a control). The catalytic activity and deactivation of the products were evaluated in the dry reforming of methane (DRM). The modified direct synthesis method was found to favour the formation of Ni-phyllosilicates; these compounds led to a high Ni dispersion in the catalysts (even with 15 wt% of Ni). At short times of reaction, these catalysts showed low carbon deposition in comparison with that of the catalysts that were synthetized via the incipient impregnation method, which produced large carbon deposits. At long times on stream, the catalysts that contained Ni-phyllosilicates showed a severe sintering of the Ni particles during the DRM reaction at 700 °C. If the reactor is not operated in the kinetic regime, the activity loss is not adequately observed, even if significant sintering of Ni has already occurred in the catalyst. With the reactor operating in the kinetic regime, the deactivation curves can be fit using the deactivation model with residual activity (DMRA), and the Ni-SiO₂ catalysts followed a second-order deactivation that was caused by the Ni sintering. Finally, at short times of reaction and with the reactor operating in the kinetic regime at 700 °C, an apparent activation energy of 80.3 kJ/mole was determined for the DRM reaction.

含镍的二氧化硅催化剂（Ni-SiO ₂）通过两种方法合成：i）改进的直接合成法和ii）初期浸渍（作为对照）。在甲烷的干重整（DRM）中评估了产物的催化活性和减活性。发现改进的直接合成方法有利于形成Ni-页硅酸盐。这些化合物导致Ni在催化剂中的分散度很高（即使含15 wt％的Ni）。在反应的短时间内，与通过初期浸渍法合成的催化剂相比，这些催化剂显示出低的碳沉积，后者产生大量的碳沉积。在长时间运行中，含有Ni-页硅酸盐的催化剂在700°C的DRM反应期间显示出Ni颗粒的严重烧结。如果反应堆不在动力学状态下运行，即使在催化剂中已经发生大量的Ni烧结，也不能充分观察到活性损失。在反应器处于动力学状态下运行时，可以使用具有剩余活性的失活模型（DMRA）和Ni-SiO拟合失活曲线_2个催化剂发生了由Ni烧结引起的二级失活。最终，在短时间的反应中，反应器在700℃的动力学条件下运行，对于DRM反应，表观活化能确定为80.3 kJ / mol。