Abstract: Carbon dioxide reforming of methane is an effective way for the resource utilization of green house gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. In recent years,there has been an increasing interest in the development of the reaction catalysts,especially for nickel-based catalysts.In order to understand the utilization of the reaction and the nickel-based catalysts comprehensively,the thermodynamic research and mechanism of this reaction were introduced; the causes of the carbon deposition and ways of carbon elimination on nickel-based catalysts were analyzed; the influence of supports,promoters and preparation methods of nickel based catalysts on the catalytic performance were discussed. Finally,the prospects for the future research directions of nickel-based catalysts were finally proposed. The thermodynamic results show that high temperature and low pressure are beneficial to the reaction; there is no uniform conclusion on the mechanism of the carbon dioxide reforming of methane,since the mechanisms are also different with different catalysts; the coke deposition over the nickel-based catalysts is mainly produced by methane decomposition,CO disproportionation reaction and CO redox reaction,and carbon deposition can be inhibited by adjusting the properties of catalyst in the reaction; the various properties of support,the type of promoter,and the preparation method have different effects on the nickel-based catalysts; there is still a long way for industrial applications of nickel-based catalysts,and in the future development,the preparation conditions of catalyst can be optimized; the carbon deposition mechanism can be deeply explored; theory and practice can be combined to further explore the performance of nickel-based catalysts.