Performance enhancement of bimetallic Co-Ru/CNTs nano catalysts using microemulsion technique

Bimetallic cobalt-ruthenium nano catalysts supported on carbon nanotubes(CNTs)are prepared using microemultion technique with water-to-surfactant ratios of 0.5—1.5.The nano catalysts were extensively characterized by different methods and their activity and selectivity in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis(FTS)have been assessed in a fixed-bed microreactor.The physicochemical properties and performance of the nanocatalysts were compared with the catalyst prepared by impregnation method.Very narrow particle size distribution has been produced by the microemulsion technique at relatively high loadings of active metals(15 wt%Co and 1 wt%Ru).According to TEM images,small Co particles(2—7 nm)were mostly confined inside the CNTs.Comparing with the catalyst prepared by impregnation,the use of microemulsion technique with water to surfactant ratio of 0.5 decreased the average cobalt oxide particle size to 4.8 nm,the dispersion was almost doubled and the reduction increased by 28%.Activity and selectivity were found to be dependent on the catalyst preparation method and water-to-surfactant ratio(as well as cobalt particle sizes).CO conversion increased from 59.1%to 75.1%and the FTS rate increased from 0.291 to0.372 gHC/(gcath).C5+liquid hydrocarbons selectivity decreased from 92.4%to 87.6%.     

Effect of catalyst confinement and pore size on Fischer-Tropsch synthesis over cobalt supported on carbon nanotubes

This paper studies the impact of structure of cobalt catalysts supported on carbon nanotubes(CNT) on the activity and product selectivity of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis(FTS) reaction.Three types of CNT with average pore sizes of 5,11,and 17 nm were used as the supports.The catalysts were prepared by selectively impregnating cobalt nanoparticles either inside or outside CNT.The TPR results indicated that the catalyst with Co particles inside CNT was easier to be reduced than those outside CNT,and the reducibility of cobalt oxide particles inside the CNT decreased with the cobalt oxide particle size increasing.The activity of the catalyst with Co inside CNT was higher than that of catalysts with Co particles outside CNT.Smaller CNT pore size also appears to enhance the catalyst reduction and FTS activity due to the little interaction between cobalt oxide with carbon and the enhanced electron shift on the non-planar carbon tube surface.     

Rh doping effect on coking resistance of Ni/SBA-15 catalysts in dry reforming of methane

A series of SBA-15 supported bimetallic Rh–Ni catalysts with different weight ratio of Rh/Ni in the range of 0–0.04 were prepared for carbon dioxide reforming of methane. The doping effect of Rh on catalytic activity as well as carbon accumulation and removal over the catalysts was studied. The characterization results indicated that the addition of a small amount of Rh promoted the reducibility of Ni particles and decreased the Ni particle size. During the dry reforming reaction, the carbon deposition was originated from CH4 decomposition and CO disproportionation. The Rh–Ni catalyst with small metallic particle size inhibited the carbon formation and exhibited high efficiency in the removal of coke. In comparison with bare Ni-based catalyst, the Rh–Ni bimetallic catalysts showed high activity and stability in the dry reforming of methane.     

Enhancement of bimetallic Fe-Mn/CNTs nano catalyst activity and product selectivity using microemulsion technique

Bimetallic Fe-Mn nano catalysts supported on carbon nanotubes(CNTs) were prepared using microemulsion technique with water-to-surfactant ratios of 0.4-1.6. The nano catalysts were extensively characterized by different methods and their activity and selectivity in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis(FTS) have been assessed in a fixed-bed microreactor. The physicochemical properties and performance of the nanocatalysts were compared with the catalyst prepared by impregnation method. Very narrow particle size distribution has been produced by the microemulsion technique at relatively high loading of active metal. TEM images showed that small metal nano particles in the range of 3–7 nm were not only confined inside the CNTs but also located on the outer surface of the CNTs. Using microemulsion technique with water to surfactant ratio of0.4 decreased the average iron particle sizes to 5.1 nm. The reduction percentage and dispersion percentage were almost doubled. Activity and selectivity were found to be dependent on the catalyst preparation method and average iron particle size. CO conversion and FTS rate increased from 49.1% to 71.0% and 0.144 to 0.289 gHC/(gcat h), respectively. While the WGS rate decreased from 0.097 to 0.056 gCO2/(gcat h). C5+liquid hydrocarbons selectivity decreased slightly and olefins selectivity almost doubled.     

Cobalt catalysts supported on silica nanotubes for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Silica nanotubes(SNT) have been synthesized using carbon nanotubes(CNT) as a template.Silica-coated carbon nanotubes(SNT-CNT) and SNT were loaded with a cobalt catalyst for use in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis(FTS).The catalysts were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation and characterized by N2 physisorption,X-ray diffraction(XRD),hydrogen temperature programmed reduction(H2-TPR) and transmission electron microscopy(TEM).FTS performance was evaluated in a fixed-bed reactor at 493 K and 1.0 MPa.Co/CNT and Co/SNT catalysts showed higher activity than Co/SNT-CNT in FTS because of the smaller cobalt particle size,higher dispersion and stronger reducibility.The results also showed that structure of the support affects the product selectivity in FTS.The synergistic effects of cobalt particle size,catalytic activity and diffusion limitations as a consequence of its small average pore size lead to medium selectivity to C5+ hydrocarbons and CH4 over Co/SNT-CNT.On the other hand,the Co/CNT showed higher CH4 selectivity and lower C5+ selectivity than Co/SNT,due to its smaller average pore size and cobalt particle size.     

Carbon nanotubes decorated α-Al2O3 containing cobalt nanoparticles for Fischer-Tropsch reaction

A new hierarchical composite consisted of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) layer anchored on macroscopic α-Al2O3 host matrix was synthesized and used as support for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS). The composite constituted by a thin shell of a homogeneous, highly entangled and structure-opened carbon nanotubes network and it exhibited a relatively high and fully accessible specific surface area of 76 m 2 g-1 , compared with that of 5 m 2 g-1 of the original α-Al2O3 support. The metal-support interaction between carbon nanotubes surface and cobalt precursor and high effective surface area led to a relatively high dispersion of cobalt nanoparticles. This hierarchically supported cobalt catalyst exhibited a high FTS activity along with an extremely high selectivity towards liquid hydrocarbons compared with the cobalt-based catalyst supported on pristine α-Al2O3 or on CNTs carriers. This improvement can attribute to the high accessibility of composite surface area comparing with the macroscopic host structure alone or to the bulk CNTs where the nanoscopic dimension induced a dense packing with low mass transfer which favoured the problem of reactants competitive diffusion towards the cobalt active site. In addition, intrinsic thermal conductivity of decorated CNTs could help the heat dissipating throughout the catalyst body, thus avoiding the formation of local hot spots which appeared in high CO conversion under pure syngas feed in FTS reaction. Cobalt supported on CNTs decorated α-Al2O3 catalyst also exhibited satisfied high stability during more than 200 h on stream under relatively severe conditions compared with other catalysts reported in the literature. Finally, the macroscopic shape of such composite easily rendered its usage as catalyst support in a fixed-bed configuration without facing problems of transport and pressure drop as encountered with the bulk CNTs.     

Solvent-free synthesis of alumina supported cobalt catalysts for Fischer–Tropsch synthesis

A novel mechano-synthesis method has been elaborated in this work for the design of efficient cobaltbased Fischer–Tropsch catalysts. The process aims to reduce the total number of steps involved in the synthesis of solid catalysts and thus to avoid relevant toxic solutions generated during the catalyst preparation. The mechano-synthesis of the Co/Al_2O_3 catalyst was processed in a low-energy vibratory micro mill and high energy planetary ball mill. Porous spherical γ-aluminas(1860 μm and 71 μm mean particle diameter) were used in this work as host compounds. Co_3O_4(3 μm mean particle diameter) has provided guest particles for mechano-synthesis. The catalysts were characterized by textural(surface area, porosity and particle size) and structural analyses(X-ray diffraction, TPR, SEM-EDX and microprobe). The microprobe images show deposition of Co_3O_4 on the surface of the alumina and indicated no Co_3O_4 diffusion inside the alumina pores. SEM-EDX mapping illustrated that cobalt coating tended to occur on surface of rounded shape of cracked alumina fragments. After milling, the crystallite size of Co_3O_4 decreased to 15 nm from 30 to 50 nm. The TPR profiles indicated very low concentrations of inactive cobalt aluminate mixed compounds which are usually produced during the catalyst preparation by impregnation.In Fischer–Tropsch synthesis, the catalysts prepared using mechano-synthesis methods showed catalytic performance comparable to the catalysts prepared by impregnation.     

A zirconium modified Co/SiO2 Fischer-Tropsch catalyst prepared by dielectric-barrier discharge plasma

Co/SiO₂ and zirconium promoted Co/Zr/SiO₂ catalysts were prepared using dielectric-barrier discharge（DBD） plasma instead of the conventional thermal calcination method.Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis（FTS） performances of the catalyst were evaluated in a fixed bed reactor.The results indicated that the catalyst treated by DBD plasma shows the higher FTS activity and yield of heavy hydrocarbons as compared with that treated by the conventional thermal calcination method.Increase in CO conversion was unnoticeable on the Co/SiO₂ catalyst,but significant on the Co/Zr/SiO₂ catalyst,both prepared by DBD plasma.On the other hand,heavy hydrocarbon selectivity and chain growth probability （a value） were enhanced on all the catalysts prepared by the DBD plasma.In order to study the effect of the DBD plasma treatment on the FTS performance,the catalysts were characterized by N₂-physisorption,H2-temperature programed reduction（H₂-TPR）,H₂-temperature-programmed desorption（H₂-TPD） and oxygen titration,transmission electron microscope（TEM） and X-ray diffraction（XRD）.It was proved that,compared with the traditional calcination method,DBD plasma not only could shorten the precursor decomposition time,but also could achieve better cobalt dispersion,smaller Co₃O₄ cluster size and more uniform cobalt distribution.However,cobalt reducibility was hindered to some extent in the Co/SiO₂ catalyst prepared by DBD plasma,while the zirconium additive prevented significantly the decrease in cobalt reducibility and increased cobalt dispersion as well as the FTS performance.     

Particle size effects in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis by Co catalyst supported on carbon nanotubes

The effect of Co particle size on the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) activity of carbon nanotube (CNT)-supported Co catalysts was investigated. Microemulsion (using water-to-surfactant molar ratios of 2 to12) and impregnation techniques were used to prepare catalysts with different Co particle sizes. Kinetic studies were performed to understand the effect of Co particle size on catalytic activity. Size-dependent kinetic parameters were developed using a thermodynamic method, to evaluate the structural sensitivity of the CNT-supported Co catalysts. The size-independent FTS reaction rate constant and size-independent adsorption parameter increased with increasing reac-tion temperature. The Polani parameter also depended on catalyst particle size, because of changes in the catalyst surface coverage.     

Investigation of CO and formaldehyde oxidation over mesoporous Ag/Co3O4 catalysts

CO and formaldehyde(HCHO)oxidation reactions were investigated over mesoporous Ag/Co3O4 catalysts prepared by one-pot(OP)and impregnation(IM)methods.It was found that the one-pot method was superior to the impregnation method for synthesizing Ag/Co3O4 catalysts with high activity for both reactions.It was also found that the catalytic behavior of mesoporous Co3O4 and Ag/Co3O4 catalysts for the both reactions was different.And the addition of silver on mesoporous Co3O4 did not always enhance the catalytic activity of final catalyst for CO oxidation at room temperature(20 C),but could significantly improve the catalytic activity of final catalyst for HCHO oxidation at low temperature(90 C).The high surface area,uniform pore structure and the pretty good dispersion degree of the silver particle should be responsible for the excellent low-temperature CO oxidation activity.However,for HCHO oxidation,the addition of silver played an important role in the activity enhancement.And the silver particle size and the reducibility of Co3O4 should be indispensable for the high activity of HCHO oxidation at low temperature.     

CO oxidation over Co3O4/SiO2 catalysts: Effects of porous structure of silica and catalyst calcination temperature

The catalytic performances of Co3O4/SiO2 catalysts prepared by incipient wetness impregnation for CO oxidation were investigated using three kinds of silica as carriers with different pore sizes of 7.7, 14.0 and 27.0 nm. The effects of calcination temperature on the catalyst surface and micro structure properties as well as catalytic performance for the oxidation of carbon monoxide were also studied. All catalysts were characterized by N2 adsorption-desorption, XRD, XPS, FTIR, H2-TPR and O2-TPD. It was found that the properties and crystal size of cobalt-containing species strongly depended on the pore size of silica carrier. While the silica pore size increased from 7.7 to 27.0 nm, the Co3O4 crystal size increased from 8.5 to 13.5 nm. Moreover, it was demonstrated that if the spinel crystal structure of Co3O4 was obtained at a calcination temperature as low as 150 ℃, the catalyst sample would have a high Co3O4 surface dispersion and a increase of surface active species, and thus exhibit a high activity for the oxidation of carbon monoxide.     

Influence of Pretreatment on the Interaction of Oxygen with Silver and the Catalytic Activity of Ag／SiO2 Catalysts for CO Selective Oxidation in H2

The interactions of oxygen with pre~reduced silver catalysts as well as their catalytic propertiesfor CO selective oxidation in H2 after oxygen pre-treatment are studied in this paper. It is found that the pretreatment exerts a strong influence on the activity and selectivity of the silver catalyst. A drop in activity and selectivity is observed after treating a pre-reduced catalyst with oxygen at low temperatures,whereas a converse result is obtained after an oxidizing treatment at high temperatures (T≥350℃). O2-TPD results show that surface oxygen species adsorbs on silver surface after the oxygen treatment at low temperatures. However, penetration of oxygen into the silver is enhanced by a high temperature treatment, meanwhile the surface oxygen species disappear. No other silver species except metallic silver are observed on all the catalysts by XRD, and the size of silver particle is not changed after the treatment with oxygen at low temperatures. The surface oxygen species formed by oxygen treatment can also be removed by hydrogen reduction. The strongly-adsorbed surface oxygen species prohibit the adsorption and diffusion of oxygen species in reaction gas on the surface of silver catalyst, causing the decrease in CO oxidation activity, in other words, it is important to obtain a clean silver surface for increasing the catalyst activity in CO removal from H2-rich feed gas. The differences in activity and selectivity due to the oxygen pretreatment at different temperatures axe discussed in terms of the changes in the surface/subsurface oxygen species of the silver particles.     

CO oxidation over Co_3O_4/SiO_2 catalysts:Effects of porous structure of silica and catalyst calcination temperature

The catalytic performances of Co3O4/SiO2 catalysts prepared by incipient wetness impregnation for CO oxidation were investigated using three kinds of silica as carriers with different pore sizes of 7.7,14.0 and 27.0 nm.The effects of calcination temperature on the catalyst surface and micro structure properties as well as catalytic performance for the oxidation of carbon monoxide were also studied.All catalysts were characterized by N2 adsorption-desorption,XRD,XPS,FTIR,H2-TPR and O2-TPD.It was found that the properties and crystal size of cobalt-containing species strongly depended on the pore size of silica carrier.While the silica pore size increased from 7.7 to 27.0 nm,the Co3O4 crystal size increased from 8.5 to 13.5 nm.Moreover,it was demonstrated that if the spinel crystal structure of Co3O4 was obtained at a calcination temperature as low as 150℃,the catalyst sample would have a high Co3O4 surface dispersion and an increase of surface active species,and thus exhibit a high activity for the oxidation of carbon monoxide.     

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis over ruthenium-promoted Co/Al_2O_3 catalyst with different reduction procedures

The effect of reduction procedure on catalyst properties, activity and products selectivity of ruthenium-promoted Co/γ-Al2O3 catalyst in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) was investigated. Catalyst samples were reduced with different reduction gas compositions and passivated before being characterized by TPR and XRD techniques. Different activity and product selectivity analyses were also performed. These results showed that the catalyst dispersion, particle size, and the degree of reduction changed with different reduction gas compositions, which were resulted from the water partial pressures in reduction process that give varying degrees of interaction with the support. It has been suggested that the FTS activity of cobalt catalyst was directly dependent on the catalyst reducibility. A reduction gas with a molar ratio of H2/He = 1 was used to prevent the formation of Co-support compound during catalyst reduction.     

用于甲烷水蒸气重整的镍基催化剂的失活和再生

The deactivation of nickel catalysts used in Arak and Razi petrochemical complexes followed by catalyst regeneration was evalu-ated. The characterization of the different structures was made by powder X-ray diffraction(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDS),transmission electron microscopy(TEM),and carbon & sulfur analyzer. The Ni particle size was estimated from XRD patterns and TEM graphs. The agglomeration of nickel particle and the poison by sulfur components were recognized as the main reasons in deactivation of Arak and Razi catalysts,respectively. The activity of the used catalysts before and after regeneration was measured on methane steam reforming at a CH4:H2O ratio of 1:3 at 850 oC. The regeneration processes for Arak and Razi samples were performed with CO2 as an oxidative atmosphere and steam as a regenerating agent,respectively. The results show that,(1) no residual sulfur components were on the regenerated Razi catalyst surface without changing the structure of the catalyst and the regenerated catalyst has gained 80% of its catalytic activity,and that(2) the nickel particle size of regenerated Arak specimen decreased remarkably as measured by Debye-Scherrer equation from XRD patterns. TEM images were in agreement with the XRD results and indicated a decrease in nickel particle size of regenerated catalyst. Additionally,in both regenerated catalysts all the coke on the surface of the support was eliminated after regeneration.     

Effects of Citric Acid Concentration and Activation Temperature on the Synthesis of Carbon Nanotubes

A series of Ni-La-Mg catalyst samples were prepared by citric acid complex method, and carbonnanotubes were synthesized by catalytic decomposition of CH4 on these catalysts. The effects of the citricacid concentration and the activation temperature on catalytic activity were investigated by CO adsorption,TEM and XRD techniques. The experimental results showed that the particle size of the catalysts preparedthrough gel auto-combustion varied with the concentration of citric acid. Therefore carbon nanotubes with different diameters were obtained correspondingly. The effect of activation temperature on the activity of catalyst was negligible from 500 to 700℃, but it became pronounced at lower or higher temperatures.     

γ-Al2O3负载的金溶胶的尺寸效应对CO催化氧化活性的影响

The relationship between particle size and catalytic activity of gold nanoparticle catalysts with γ-Al2O3 as support has been investigated. The catalysts were prepared via the gold sol with different particle sizes by micelle method, and their structures were characterized by HRTEM and XRD, respectively. Furthermore, the catalytic activities were tested by CO oxidation. Experimental results showed that the catalytic activity became much weaker when gold particles were increased from 3.2 to 6.6 nm. Additionally, the particle size was also a key factor to govern catalytic activity with regard to gold supported on TiO2 prepared by the methods of deposition-precipitation.     

Cobalt supported on CNTs-covered γ-and nano-structured alumina catalysts utilized for wax selective Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Cobalt supported on carbon nanotubes(CNTs)-covered alumina has been recently developed and successfully utilized as a catalyst in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis(FTS).Problems associated with shaping of Co/CNTs into extrudates or pellets as well as catalyst attrition rendered these materials unfavorable for industrial applications.In this investigation regularγ-and nano-structured(N-S)alumina as well as CNTs-covered regularγ-and N-S-alumina supports were impregnated by cobalt nitrate solution to make new cobalt-based catalysts which were also promoted by Ru.The catalysts were characterized and tested in a micro reactor to evaluate their applicability in FTS.γ-Al2O3 was prepared by calcination of bohemite and N-S-Al2O3 was prepared by sol-gel method using aluminum chloride as starting material.Catalyst evaluations indicated that N-S-Al2O3 was superior to regularγ-Al2O3 and that CNTs-covered alumina supports were favored over non-covered ones in terms of activity and heavy hydrocarbon selectivity.These were justified by porosimetric characteristics of the catalysts and existence of CNTs points of view. CNTs-covered catalysts also showed higher wax selectivity and better resistance to deactivation.Furthermore,TPR analysis indicated that the cobalt aluminate phase,which is responsible for the permanent deactivation of alumina supported Co-based catalysts,did not form on alumina supported Co-based catalysts covered with CNTs due to weaker interactions between cobalt and alumina.     

Synthesis gas production on glass cloth catalysts modified by Ni and Co oxides

The catalytic activity of nanostructured low percent (1%) Co-Ni catalysts on the basis of glass fiber (GF) prepared by a"solution combustion" (SC) method was studied.The catalytic activity of the prepared samples was studied in the reaction of dry reforming of methane (DRM) with CO2.The obtained samples were characterized by a number of physico-chemical methods,including XRD,SEM,TEM,TGA and AFM.The active component was shown to be dispersed in the near-surface layer of the support as nanoparticles of 10—20 nm in size.The active component showed a Co3O4 or(Co,Ni)Co2O4 spinel structure,depending on the catalyst composition.The spinel structure of the active component interacted strongly with the carrier,providing resistance to carbonization,high catalytic activity toward DRM,and high activity and stability in oxidation reactions.     

Effect of preparation method on halloysite supported cobalt catalysts for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Novel cobalt Fischer-Tropsch synthesis(FTS) catalysts were prepared from natural halloysite nanotubes(HNT) by double-solvent and wetimpregnation methods,and characterized by TEM,XRD,TPR and N2 adsorption-desorption.Comparing with the catalyst prepared by wetimpregnation method,the catalyst prepared by double-solvent method reduces Co3O4 particle migration and agglomeration due to size-induced effect,thus showing higher catalytic activity for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.