The present inventive concept relates to a method of manufacturing a porous silica support and a catalyst for a dry methane reforming reaction comprising the porous silica manufactured thereby. According to the present inventive concept, a porous silica support having a variety of controlled pore structures and silica shapes and having hydroxyl groups (OH) formed on the surface thereof may be manufactured by controlling the mixing molar ratio of two alkoxysilanes (APTES and TEOS) used as silica precursors. In the catalyst in which an active metal is supported on the porous silica support, the active metal strongly interacts with silica through the hydroxyl groups, thereby enhancing catalytic activity, promoting dissociation/adsorption of CO.sub.2, and alleviating carbon formation. Therefore, the catalytic activity is enhanced compared to a conventional catalyst in which an active metal is supported on silica having single mesopores and containing no hydroxyl groups in a dry methane reforming reaction.

A hollow spherical catalyst for a fixed bed with internal fluidization of particles and a method for preparing the same. The preparation method includes: fully mixing precious metal nanopowder with an organic oil phase to form an internal oil phase; preparing a gel ball of an oil-in-water structure by taking an aluminum oxide molding solution as an outer aqueous phase using an independently researched and developed coaxial dual-dropper forming apparatus; and then preparing a hollow aluminum oxide catalyst containing precious metal powder from the gel ball through processes of aging, calcination, and reduction. The resulting catalyst is expressed as X@Al.sub.2O.sub.3, where the precious metal nanopowder X is wrapped inside hollow Al.sub.2O.sub.3, and the catalyst has an outer diameter of 1.5-5.0 mm, a shell pore diameter (aluminum oxide) of 10-50 nm, and the precious metal nanopowder sized 200-500 nm.

A hollow spherical catalyst for a fixed bed with internal fluidization of particles and a method for preparing the same. The preparation method includes: fully mixing precious metal nanopowder with an organic oil phase to form an internal oil phase; preparing a gel ball of an oil-in-water structure by taking an aluminum oxide molding solution as an outer aqueous phase using an independently researched and developed coaxial dual-dropper forming apparatus; and then preparing a hollow aluminum oxide catalyst containing precious metal powder from the gel ball through processes of aging, calcination, and reduction. The resulting catalyst is expressed as X@Al.sub.2O.sub.3, where the precious metal nanopowder X is wrapped inside hollow Al.sub.2O.sub.3, and the catalyst has an outer diameter of 1.5-5.0 mm, a shell pore diameter (aluminum oxide) of 10-50 nm, and the precious metal nanopowder sized 200-500 nm.

The subject invention pertains a stable, three-dimensional (3D) photocatalyst composition comprising TiO.sub.2 doped with carbon derived from lignin. The photocatalyst composition has a stable, hollow, spherical or spheroid nanoparticle structure, which improves photodegradation under visible light irradiation over unmodified TiO.sub.2 photocatalysts. The subject invention also provides methods of preparing the photocatalyst, as well as methods using the photocatalyst to remediate contaminants such as pharmaceuticals, pathogens and persistent organic pollutants.

The subject invention pertains a stable, three-dimensional (3D) photocatalyst composition comprising TiO.sub.2 doped with carbon derived from lignin. The photocatalyst composition has a stable, hollow, spherical or spheroid nanoparticle structure, which improves photodegradation under visible light irradiation over unmodified TiO.sub.2 photocatalysts. The subject invention also provides methods of preparing the photocatalyst, as well as methods using the photocatalyst to remediate contaminants such as pharmaceuticals, pathogens and persistent organic pollutants.