Thedeactivationbehaviorbycrystallitegrowthofnickelnanoparticlesonvarioussupports(carbonnanofibers,zirconia,SiC,α-Al_2O_3andγ-Al_2O_3)wasinvestigatedintheaqueousphasereformingofethyleneglycol.SupportedNicatalystsof~10wt%werepreparedbyimpregnationofcarbonnanofibers(CNF),ZrO_2,SiC,γ-Al_2O_3andα-Al_2O_3.TheextentoftheNinanoparticlegrowthonvarioussupportmaterialsfollowstheorderCNF~ZrO_2>SiC>γ-Al_2O_3>>α-Al_2O_3whichsequence,however,wasdeterminedbytheinitialNiparticlesize.Basedontheobservednickelleachingandthespecificgrowthcharacteristics;theparticlesizedistributionandtheeffectofloadingonthegrowthrate,Ostwaldripeningissuggestedtobethemainmechanismcontributingtonickelparticlegrowth.Remarkably,initiallysmallerNiparticles(~12nm)supportedonα-Al_2O_3werefoundtooutgrowNiparticleswithinitiallylargersize(~20nm).ItisputforwardthatthehighersusceptibilitywithrespecttooxidationofthesmallerNinanoparticlesanddifferencesininitialparticlesizedistributionareresponsibleforthisbehavior.
