Operando FT-IR study on basicity improvement of Ni(Mg, Al)O hydrotalcite-derived catalysts promoted by glow plasma discharge

CO₂ adsorption on the surface of hydrotalcite-derived mixed oxide catalysts was investigated under low pressure glow discharge plasma in operando conditions via FT-IR spectroscopy. Nickel catalysts were promoted with various transition metal species (Ce, Fe, La, Zr) to influence their physico-chemical properties. Fe and Zr species were successfully incorporated into hydrotalcite brucite layers. After calcination formed a single phase with Ni(Mg, Al)O mixed oxide, while La and Ce species formed separate phases. This had a consequence in the distribution of surface basic sites as well as in the affinity to CO produced upon CO₂ dissociation in plasma. Plasma treatment activated the surface of prepared materials and changed their properties via the generation of strong basic sites associated with low coordinated surface oxygen anions. Moreover, the CO₂ adsorption capacity of prepared materials increased after plasma treatment.