Abstract: The nickel catalyst supported on carbon nanotubes (CNTs), prepared by the incipient impregnation method, was employed for the vapor-phase carbonylation of methanol. The effects of the preparation and pretreatment conditions on catalytic activity of the Ni/CNTs catalyst were studied. The catalyst was characterized by means of transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and infrared reflectance spectroscopy. The catalytic activity of Ni/CNTs was strongly influenced by the pretreatment conditions. The catalyst showed a high dispersion when the CNTs was pretreated with HNO3 and subsequently activated with Na2CO3. When the Ni/CNTs was calcined under N2 atmosphere at 300 ℃ for 2 h and then reduced under H2 atmosphere at 500 ℃ for 3 h, the prepared Ni/CNTs catalyst showed the highest catalytic activity for the vapor-phase carbonylation of methanol.

Key words: carbon nanotube, nickel, supported catalyst, methanol, vapor-phase carbonylation