Cobalt supported on carbon nanotubes — A promising novel Fischer–Tropsch synthesis catalyst

An extensive study of Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) on carbon nanotubes (CNT) supported and γ–alumina-supported cobalt catalysts with different amounts of cobalt are reported. Up to 40 wt.% of cobalt is added to the supports by the impregnation method. The effect of the support on the reducibility of the cobalt oxide species, dispersion of the cobalt, average cobalt clusters size, water–gas shift (WGS) activity and activity and selectivity of FTS is investigated. Using carbon nanotubes as cobalt catalyst support was found to cause the reduction temperature of cobalt oxide species to shift to lower temperatures. The strong metal-support interactions are reduced to a large extent and the reducibility of the catalysts improved significantly. CNT aided in well dispersion of metal clusters and average cobalt clusters size decreased. Results are presented showing that the hydrocarbon yield obtained by inventive CNT supported cobalt catalyst is surprisingly much larger than that obtained from cobalt on alumina supports. The maximum concentration of active surface Co° sites and FTS activity for alumina and CNT supported catalysts are achieved at 34 wt.% and 40 wt.% cobalt loading respectively. CNT caused a slight decrease in the FTS product distribution to lower molecular weight hydrocarbons.