A facile method for preparation of iron based catalysts for high temperature water gas shift reaction

Nanocrystalline Fe3O4 based catalysts with theoretical particle size of 31–78 nm were synthesized by a facile direct pyrolysis method and employed in high temperature water gas shift reaction. XRD analysis showed that this method led to obtaining the catalysts directly in the active phase with chromium and copper incorporated into magnetite lattice. The results showed that the addition of chromium significantly increases the BET surface area of the pure iron oxide from 14.87 to 35.42 m2 g−1. Among the catalysts evaluated, Fe–Cr–Cu catalyst revealed higher activity compared to commercial catalyst and showed high stability during 10 h time on stream.