Preparation, surface characterization and performance of a Fischer-Tropsch catalyst of cobalt supported on silica nanosprings

• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2015.10.081
• Publication Date: 2015-11-13T19:37:09Z
• Authors: Blaise-Alexis Fou...; Abdulbaset M. Alayat; Guanqun Luo; Armando G. McDonald; Justin Brown; Hayden Smotherman; David N. McIlroy
• Keywords: Fischer–Tropsch process

Abstract The reduction of cobalt (Co) catalyst supported on silica nanosprings for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) has been monitored by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and compared to FT catalytic activity. The cobalt is present in the starting catalyst as a Co3O4 spinel phase. A two-step reduction of Co3O4 to CoO and then to Co0 is observed, which is consistent with the results of H2-temperature programmed reduction. During the reduction the two steps occur concurrently. The deconvolution of the Co 2p core level state for the catalyst reduced at 385 °C and 1.0 × 10−6 Torr of H2 revealed signatures of Co0, CoO, and Co3O4. The reduction saturates at a Coo concentration of approximately 41% after 20 h, which correlates with the activity and lifetime of the catalyst during FTS testing. Conversely, at 680 °C and 10 Torr of H2, the catalyst is completely reduced after 10 h. The evolution of the Co d-band at the Fermi level in the valence band XPS spectrum definitively verifies the metallic phase of Co. FTS evaluation of the Co/NS catalyst reduced at 609 °C showed higher production rate (3-fold) of C6-C17 hydrocarbons than the catalyst reduced at 409 °C and is consistent with the XPS analysis.