Precipitated iron Fischer-Tropsch catalyst: Effect of carbidization on the morphology of iron oxyhydroxide nanoneedles Original Research Article

The effect of carbidization on the morphology of iron oxyhydroxide particles has been studied. Homogeneous oxidation of iron(II) sulfate results in predominantly γ-FeOOH particles which have a rod-shaped crystalline structure. Carbidization of the prepared iron oxyhydroxide particles at 270 °C and atmospheric pressure without mechanical stirring was found to produce iron carbides with spherical layered structure residing in close proximity. HRTEM, EDS and electron microdiffraction analysis revealed that carbidization alters the initial nanoneedle-type morphology and generates ultrafine carbide particles with irregular spherical shape. When carbidization was performed under severe mechanical stirring, formation of spherical carbide particles completely separated from each other was obsrved. Initial activity of iron oxyhydroxide for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis was found to be high (a CO conversion of about 84%) which declined steadily with synthesis time (26% CO conversion after 340 h of synthesis).