Patent ID: 8859453

Claim:
A metal oxide-supported nickel catalyst comprising a matrix, 70-85 wt %, containing a metal oxide, and catalytic sites, 15-30 wt %, distributed throughout the matrix and having an intricate interface with the matrix, wherein the metal oxide is selected from the group consisting of Al 2 O 3 , SiO 2 , CaO, MgO, ZrO 2 , CeO 2 , TiO 2 , and Y 2 O 3 ; and the catalytic sites are selected from the group consisting of nano-nickel(0) domains and nano-nickel(0)-A(0) alloy domains, A being Rh, Pd, Pt, Ru, Cu, or Co, providing that when the catalytic sites are nano-nickel(0)-A(0) alloy domains, nickel(0) constitutes at least 95 wt % in the alloy domains.