Polyaniline-supported iron catalyst for selective synthesis of lower olefins from syngas

Uniform iron nanoparticles dispersed on polyaniline have been used as catalysts for the direct conversion of synthesis gas into lower olefins. As compared to active carbon and N-doped active carbon, polyaniline as a support of Fe catalysts showed higher selectivity of lower olefins(C_(2–4)=). The C_(2–4)=selectivity reached ~50% at a CO conversion of 79% over a 10 wt% Fe/polyaniline catalyst without any promoters.The XRD, H_2-TPR, TEM and HRTEM studies revealed that the presence of nitrogen-containing groups in polyaniline structure could promote the dispersion and reduction of iron oxides, forming higher fraction of iron carbides with smaller mean sizes and narrower size distributions. The propylene-TPD result indicates that the use of polyaniline support facilitates the desorption of lower olefins, thus suppressing the consecutive hydrogenation to form undesirable lower paraffins.     

Systematic variation of the sodium/sulfur promoter content on carbon-supported iron catalysts for the Fischer–Tropsch to olefins reaction

The Fischer–Tropsch to olefins(FTO) process is a method for the direct conversion of synthesis gas to lower C_2–C_4olefins. Carbon-supported iron carbide nanoparticles are attractive catalysts for this reaction.The catalytic activity can be improved and undesired formation of alkanes can be suppressed by the addition of sodium and sulfur as promoters but the influence of their content and ratio remains poorly understood and the promoted catalysts often suffer from rapid deactivation due to particle growth. A series of carbon black-supported iron catalysts with similar iron content and nominal sodium/sulfur loadings of 1–30/0.5–5 wt% with respect to iron are prepared and characterized under FTO conditions at 1and 10 bar syngas pressure to illuminate the influence of the promoter level on the catalytic properties.Iron particles and promoters undergo significant reorganization during FTO operation under industrially relevant conditions. Low sodium content(1–3 wt%) leads to a delay in iron carbide formation. Sodium contents of 15–30 wt% lead to rapid loss of catalytic activity due to the covering of the iron surface with promoters during particle growth under FTO operation. Higher activity and slower loss of activity are observed at low promoter contents(1–3 wt% sodium and 0.5–1 wt% sulfur) but a minimum amount of alkali is required to effectively suppress methane and C_2–C_4paraffin formation. A reference catalyst support(carbide-derived carbon aerogel) shows that the optimum promoter level depends on iron particle size and support pore structure.     

Fischer–Tropsch synthesis over iron catalysts with corncob-derived promoters

A sustainable strategy for Fischer–Tropsch iron catalysts is successfully achieved by embedding of synergistic promoters from a renewable resource, corncob. The iron-based catalysts, named as "corncob-driven"catalysts, are composed of iron species supported on carbon as primary active components and various minerals(K, Mg, Ca, and Si, etc.) as promoters. The corncob-driven catalysts are facilely synthesized by a one-pot hydrothermal treatment under mild conditions. The characterization results indicate that the formation of iron carbides from humboldtine is clearly enhanced and the morphology of catalyst particles tends to be more regular microspheres after adding corncob. It is observed that the optimized corncob-driven catalyst exhibits a higher conversion than without promoters' catalyst in Fischer–Tropsch synthesis(ca. 73% vs. ca. 49%). More importantly, a synergistic effect exists in multiple promoters from corncob that can enhance heavy hydrocarbons selectivity and lower CO_2 selectivity, obviously different from the catalyst with promoters from chemicals. The proposed synthesis route of corncob-driven catalysts provides new strategies for the utilization of renewable resources and elimination of environmental pollutants from chemical promoters.     

费托合成反应中纳米铁催化剂上La和Ba助剂的协同效应(英文)

Effect of promoters such as Barium and Lanthanum has been investigated on the conventional nanostructured iron catalyst in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS). The nanosized iron-based catalysts were prepared by a microemulsion method with the general formulation of 100Fe/4Cu, 100Fe/4Cu/2La, 100Fe/4Cu/ 1La/1Ba, and 100Fe/4Cu/2Ba. The phase, structure, and morphology of the catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption, transmission electron microscopy, temperature-programmed desorption of CO2, and temperature- programmed reduction. The results indicated that the addition of promoters could improve the activity of Fe catalysts for FTS and WGS (water-gas shift reaction) and lower the gas fraction at the outlet. In addition, both Ba- and La-promoted Fe catalysts exhibit the highest activity due to the synergetic effect.     

Iron-based Fischer–Tropsch synthesis of lower olefins: The nature of χ-Fe_5C_2 catalyst and why and how to introduce promoters

As a sustainable and short-flow process, iron-catalyzed direct conversion of CO-rich syngas to lower olefins without intermediate steps, i.e., Fischer–Tropsch-to-Olefins(FTO), has received increasing attention. However, its fundamental understanding is usually limited by the complex crystal phase composition in addition to the interferences of the promoter effects and inevitable catalyst deactivation. Until recently,the combination of multiple in-situ/ex-situ characterizations and theoretical studies has evidenced H?gg iron carbide(χ-Fe_5C_2) as the dominant active phase of iron-based Fischer–Tropsch catalysts. This perspective attempts to review and discuss some recent progresses on the nature of χ-Fe_5C_2 catalyst and the crucial effects of promoters on the FTO performance from theoretical and experimental viewpoints,aiming to provide new insights into the rational design of iron-based FTO catalysts.     

Dehydrocyclization of Diphenylamine to Carbazole over Platinum-Based Bimetallic Catalysts

 Gas phase dehydrocyclization of diphenylamine (DPA) to carbazole over monometallic and bimetallic 0.4 wt% Pt-based catalysts in a fixed bed reactor was studied in the presence of hydrogen at a temperature of 550 ^oC. Alumina and carbon supported Pt catalysts showed very high initial activity (> 95%). The selectivity for carbazole over carbon supported Pt catalysts was slightly lower. Doping of the catalyst with potassium led to an increase in the selectivity for carbazole by 15%. Bimetallic Pt-Sn catalysts prepared by co-impregnation were less selective than catalysts prepared by successive impregnation. The selectivity for carbazole over bimetallic Pt-Sn catalysts prepared by successive impregnation was 75%, but their activity decreased with increased Sn loading. Highly active and reasonably selective catalysts were Ir-doped bimetallic Pt-based catalysts. The conversion of diphenylamine over Pt-Ir catalysts was above 98% and the selectivity for carbazole was nearly 55%, while the lifetime was much longer.     

Study on Diameter Controlled Growth of Carbon Nanotubes by LaAl1-xFexO3 Catalysts

A series of LaAl1-xFexO3 catalysts prepared with lanthanum nitrate, aluminium nitrate and iron nitrate was investigated in catalytical syntheses of carbon nanotubes with high yields and purity. The properties of carbon nanotubes prepared by the method of CVD(chemical vapor deposition) with n-hexane as the carbon resource were studied and it was shown that the diameter of carbon nanotubes can be controlled by the molar ratio of iron to aluminum in the catalysts and that the diameter of carbon nanotubes changes a little with the decrease of the iron content in the catalysts. From the TEM pictures of carbon nanotubes, it can be found that the LaAl1-xFexO3 catalysts have a significant influence on the wall thickness of the carbon nanotubes, whereas they have little influence on the inner diameter of the carbon nanotubes.     

PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BIMETALLIC Pd-Fe/Al_2O_3 CATALYSTS—CHARACTERIZATION BY INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY AND X-RAY DIFFRACTION

Series of bimetallic catalysts Pd-Fe/Al_2O_3 with various palladiumand iron contents were prepared by impregnating metal precursors in differentsequences.Techniques were employed to characterize the catalysts,XRD forthe existing form of the supported metals,XPS for the surface metal contentsand chemical states,in silu IR with the aid of CO as a probe molecule for theinfluence of iron amount and adding sequence upon the dispersion and the elec-tronic state of palladium.On the catalyst prepared by coimpregnating,the pal-ladium and iron contents are higher than those prepared by impregnating in dif-ferent sequence,but the ratio of Pd/Fe(in atom)is lower than those on thelatter two.The iron atoms shield the palladium and enhance the dispersity ofpalladium.In the catalyst prepared by first impregnating with iron and thenwith palladium,the iron has a strong ability to disperse palladium and the dis-persity increases with the iron loading.In the catalyst prepared by first dopingwith palladium and then iron,the     

PREPARATION OF ULTRAFINE PARTICLE IRON-CARBONIDE CATALYST AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ITS CATALYTICAL BEHAVIOR

Studies on ultrafine particle catalyst have attracted many researchers' attention by its large surfacearea,higher activity and selectivity.Based on the mechanism of α-Fe and Fe_xC_y as the catalyticalactive species this paper reports for the first time the preparation method of Fe_3C ultrafine parti-cle catalyst,from highly dispersed amorphous Fe powder and free carbon.The Fe powder and free car-bon,prepared by laser pyrolysis technique,was then treated by washing and heating at high tempera-ture protected with N_2.The catalyst prepared under different experimental conditions wascharacterazed by means of XRD,electronic diffraction and TEM.It shows that the crystlline grain sizeis in a range of 1-4nm and composed of Fe_3C and α-Fe.It has been found that the ultrafine particleiron-carbonide catalyst exhibited much higher activity and selectivity to light olefins.At the standardatmosphere and 380℃ reaction temperature,the conversion of CO reached a maximum of 80%.     

PROMOTING EFFECTS OF Cs ON Fe/AlPO_4-5 CATALYST FOR CO HYDROGENATION

The positive effects of Cs added to Fe/AIPO_4-5 catalysts in CO hy-drogenation were studied.Cs-modified Fe/AIPO_4-5 catalysts prepared by im-pregnating method using non-aqueous acetone solution of iron nitrate werefound to be active and selective for CO conversion and light olefins formation.The characterizations of catalysts by TPR,TPD,XPS and Mssbauer techniquesindicated that the Cs addition promoted the reduction of the catalyst and adsorp-tion of CO on the surface of the reduced catalysts.A strong interaction betweeniron and AlPO_4-5 support was revealed.The results show that the AlPO_4-5molecular sieves not only can be used as the support of catalyst but also cancontrol the growth of carbon chain of the products and maintain the activity ofthe catalyst for CO hydrogenation.     

Characterization of CoMn catalyst by in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy and wavelet analysis for Fischer–Tropsch to olefins reaction

Cobalt carbide has recently been reported to catalyse the FTO conversion of syngas with high selectivity for the production of lower olefins(C_2–C_4). Clarifying the formation process and atomic structure of cobalt carbide will help understand the catalytic mechanism of FTO. Herein, hydrogenation of carbon monoxide was investigated for cobalt carbide synthesized from CoMn catalyst, followed by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, temperature programmed reaction and in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy. By monitoring the evolution of cobalt carbide during syngas conversion, the wavelet transform results give evidence for the formation of the cobalt carbide and clearly demonstrate that the active site of catalysis was cobalt carbide.     

Synthesis and characterization of niobium-promoted cobalt/iron catalysts supported on carbon nanotubes for the hydrogenation of carbon monoxide

Bimetallic Co /Fe catalysts supported on carbon nanotubes( CNTs) were prepared,and niobium( Nb) was added as promoter to the 70 Co ∶30Fe /CNT catalyst. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were characterized,and the catalytic performances were analyzed at the same operation conditions( H_2 ∶CO( volume ratio) = 2 ∶1,p = 1 MPa,and t = 260 ℃) in a tubular fixed-bed microreactor system. The addition of Nb to the bimetallic catalyst decreases the average size of the oxide nanoparticles and improves the reducibility of the bimetallic catalyst. Evaluation of the catalyst performance in a Fischer-Tropsch reaction shows that the catalyst results in high selectivity to methane,and the selectivity to C_(5+) increased slightly in the bimetallic catalyst unlike that in the monometallic catalysts. The addition of 1% Nb to the bimetallic catalyst increases CO conversion and selectivity to C_(5+). Meanwhile,a decrease in methane selectivity is observed.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Tungsten Promoted Ni／Al2O3 Catalysts for Carbon Dioxide Reforming of Methane to Synthesis Gas

A series of tungsten promoted alumina supported nickel catalysts has been prepared for the carbon diox-ide reforming of methane to synthesis gas. The catalysts have been characterized by means of XRD, TEM,and Laser Raman spectroscopy. It is shown that the addition of tungsten to the nickel catalyst can stabilize the catalyst and increase the resistance to carbon deposition. Adding a suitable amount of tungsten can also increase the catalyst activity to be close to that of supported noble metal catalysts. The carburisation of the tungsten modified nickel catalyst decreases the catalyst activity at lower reaction temperatures (＜1123K),but has no effect on the catalyst performance at higher reaction temperatures. The alumina supported nickel catalyst modified by 0. 67% (mass fraction) WO3 has the equivalent equilibrium constant of the dry reforming reaction to that of alumina supported 5% (mass fraction) Ru at 873 K, and also has a lower activation energy for dry reforming than the latter.     

Improved catalytic performance of Ni catalysts for steam methane reforming in a micro-channel reactor

Milliseconds process to produce hydrogen by steam methane reforming （SMR） reaction, based on Ni catalyst rather than noble catalyst such as Pd, Rh or Ru, in micro-channel reactors has been paid more and more attentions in recent years. This work aimed to further improve the catalytic performance of nickel-based catalyst by the introduction of additives, i.e., MgO and FeO, prepared by impregnation method on the micro-channels made of metal-ceramic complex substrate. The prepared catalysts were tested in the same micro-channel reactor by switching the catalyst plates. The results showed that among the tested catalysts Ni-Mg catalyst had the highest activity, especially under harsh conditions, i.e., at high space velocity and/or low reaction temperature. Moreover, the catalyst activity and selectivity were stable during the 12 h on stream test even when the ratio of steam to carbon （SIC） was as low as 1.0. The addition of MgO promoted the active Ni species to have a good dispersion on the substrate, leading to a better catalytic performance for SMR reaction.     

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.     

Effect of operating conditions and potassium content on Fischer-Tropsch liquid products produced by potassium-promoted iron catalysts

The dependencies of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis liquid hydrocarbon product distribution on operating pressure and temperature have been studied over three potassium-promoted iron catalysts with increasing potassium molar content. The study followed an experimental planning and the results were analyzed based on surface response methodology. The effects of different operating conditions and potassium contents on the liquid product distribution were compared based on number average carbon number and dispersion. Results showed that high pressures （25 to 30 arm） favored the production of waxes that could be converted into liquid fuels through hydrocracking, while greater direct selectivity towards diesel was favored by low pressure （20 arm） using catalysts with low potassium to iron molar ratios. The liquid product distribution produced using an iron catalyst with high potassium content presented higher number-average number of carbons when compared to the distribution obtained using an iron catalyst with low potassium content.     

Effect of La on Partial Oxidation of Ethanol to Hydrogen over Ni／Fe Catalysts

The partial oxidation of ethanol to hydrogen was investigated over Ni/Fe/La catalysts prepared by the co-precipitantion method.the effects of introduction of La promoter and the reaction temperature on the catalytic performance were studied.It was found that the introduction of La into Ni/Fe catalysts is helpful to increase the selectivity to hydrogen and the stability of the catalysts.The results of XRD and XPS characteri-zation show that the structure of the catalyst was changed during the reaction.The existence of LaFeO3 species is possibly the main reason of the increase of the catalyst stability.