A team led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has made a breakthrough in enhancing the dry reforming of methane reaction to produce syngas, a valuable mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. This syngas is essential for manufacturing fuels and chemicals, especially in countries without significant oil reserves. The team's new catalyst, based on a zeolite material, effectively prevents coke formation and metal sintering, offering exceptional performance with minimal deactivation. By manipulating the interactions between the metal active sites and the support structure during catalyst synthesis, the scientists were able to stabilize the catalyst and achieve a slow deactivation rate. The zeolite's porous structure, with a large surface area, proved instrumental in improving the reaction efficiency. By replacing some aluminum atoms with nickel in the zeolite, the researchers created a catalyst that shows promising results in the dry reforming process. Moving forward, the team plans to explore additional catalyst formulations that remain stable across a wide range of operating conditions, further advancing the production of clean fuels and feedstocks.