Hollow mesoporous silica sphere supported cobalt catalysts for F–T synthesis

High dispersion Co3O4 nano-particles supported on hollow mesoporous silica spheres (HMSS) with bimodal pore distribution were prepared by “two-solvent” technique. As-synthesized catalysts were characterized by XRD, N2 adsorption–desorption, XPS, SEM, TEM, and H2-TPR. The results showed that Co3O4 nano-particles were present inside the pore system of HMSS and the particles sizes increased with the increasing loaded cobalt content. The catalysts show good performance and high selectivity of C5–C18 hydrocarbon in F–T synthesis, which should attribute to the unique bimodal pore distribution facilitating reactants to access the active sites and to transport higher hydrocarbon products.