Rational design of enhanced oxygen deficiency-enriched NiFe2O4 embedded in silica matrix as oxygen carriers for high-quality syngas production via biomass chemical looping gasification (BCLG)

Biomass chemical looping gasification has attracted wide attention in syngas production. However, the major obstacle is deactivation of oxygen carriers (OCs) caused by sintering, leading to low gasification efficiency. Developing sintering-resistant oxygen carriers is crucial for enhancing the competitiveness of BCLG. This study proposes an effective strategy of embedding NiFe2O4 in silica matrix (NFSM) to fabricate highly dispersed OCs. The gasification performance and cycling stability of OCs for BCLG are systematically researched in a fixed-bed reactor. Based on the characterization analysis, NiFe2O4 is successfully incorporated into the silica matrix. The well-dispersed active components in OCs create more oxygen vacancies and metal adsorption sites, resulting in higher redox activity. Experimental results verify that the optimal parameters for achieving the highest syngas yield (1254 mL/g) and biomass gasification efficiency (68 %) are 0.6 OCs/B, a temperature of 850 °C, and a water injection rate of 0.3 mL/min. After 10 redox cycles, NFSM demonstrates superior redox activity and excellent cycle stability, maintaining its gasification performance and microstructural integrity throughout all chemical looping gasification processes. The silica matrix-supported NiFe2O4 can be a promising candidate for BCLG. This work provides a novel approach to develop and design future OCs of BCLG for alleviating sintering and deactivation phenomena.