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–Colefins. 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–Cparaffin formation. A reference catalyst support（carbide-derived carbon aerogel） shows that the optimum promoter level depends on iron particle size and support pore structure.

Promotion effects of alkali metals on iron molybdate catalysts for CO_(2)catalytic hydrogenation

CO_(2)hydrogenation is an attractive way to store and utilize carbon dioxide generated by industrial processes,as well as to produce valuable chemicals from renewable and abundant resources.Iron catalysts are commonly used for the hydrogenation of carbon oxides to hydrocarbons.Iron-molybdenum catalysts have found numerous applications in catalysis,but have been never evaluated in the CO_(2)hydrogenation.In this work,the structural properties of iron-molybdenum catalysts without and with a promoting alkali metal(Li,Na,K,Rb,or Cs)were characterized using X-ray diffraction,hydrogen temperatureprogrammed reduction,CO_(2)temperature-programmed desorption,in-situ^(57)Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy and operando X-ray adsorption spectroscopy.Their catalytic performance was evaluated in the CO_(2)hydrogenation.During the reaction conditions,the catalysts undergo the formation of an iron(Ⅱ)molybdate structure,accompanied by a partial reduction of molybdenum and carbidization of iron.The rate of CO_(2)conversion and product selectivity strongly depend on the promoting alkali metals,and electronegativity was identified as an important factor affecting the catalytic performance.Higher CO_(2)conversion rates were observed with the promoters having higher electronegativity,while low electronegativity of alkali metals favors higher light olefin selectivity.

A novel fused iron catalyst for ammonia synthesis promoted with rare earth gangue

Rare earth gangue, which mainly consists of mixtures of light rare earths such as lanthana, ceria, neodymium oxide and praseodymium oxide, was used as the promoter of fused iron catalysts for ammonia synthesis. The result showed that the activity of the catalyst promoted with rare earth gangue was comparable with those of commercial iron catalysts with high amount of cobalt. The role of rare earths was owed to their advantages for favoring the deep reduction of the main composite in catalyst, i.e., iron oxide. This fmding indicated that the use of rare earth gangue could decrease the content of cobalt or even completely replace cobalt, which was used to be regarded as unsub- stitutable promoters for high performance ammonia catalyst; therefore, the cost of fused iron catalysts would decrease significantly.

Selective oxidation of methane to formaldehyde by oxygen over silica-supported iron catalysts

FeOx-SiO2 catalysts prepared by a sol-gel method were studied for the selective oxidation of methane by oxygen. A single-pass formaldehyde yield of 2.0% was obtained over the FeOx-SiO2 with an iron content of 0.5 wt% at 898 K. This 0.5 wt% FeOx-SiO2 catalyst demonstrated significantly higher catalytic performances than the 0.5 wt% FeOx/SiO2 prepared by an impregnation method. The correlation between the catalytic performances and the characterizations with UV-Vis and H2-TPR suggested that the higher dispersion of iron species in the catalyst prepared by the sol-gel method was responsible for its higher catalytic activity for formaldehyde formation. The modification of the FeOx-SiO2 by phosphorus enhanced the formaldehyde selectivity, and a single-pass formaldehyde yield of 2.4% could be attained over a P-FeOx-SiO2 catalyst （P/Fe = 0.5） at 898 K. Raman spectroscopic measurements indicated the formation of FePO4 nanoclusters in this catalyst, which were more selective toward formaldehyde formation.

Activation pressure studies with an iron-based catalyst for slurry Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis （FTS） was carried out with an industrial iron-based catalyst （100Fe/5Cu/6K/16SiO2, by weight） under the baseline conditions in a stirred tank slurry reactor （STSR）. The effects of activation pressure on the catalyst activity and selectivity were investigated. It was found that iron phase compositions, textural properties, and FTS performances of the catalysts were strongly dependent on activation pressure. The high activation pressure retards the carburization. MФssbauer effect spectroscopy （MES） results indicated that the contents of the iron carbides clearly decrease with the increase of activation pressure, especially for the activation pressure increasing from 1.0 MPa to 1.5 MPa, and the reverse trend is observed for superparamagnetic Fe^3＋ （spm）. The higher content of Fe^3＋ （spm） results in the higher amount of CO2 in tail gas when the catalyst is reduced at higher pressure. The catalyst activity decreases with the increase of activation pressure. The high quantity of iron carbides is necessary to obtain high FTS activity. However, the activity of the catalyst activated in syngas can not be predicted solely from the fraction of the carbides. It is concluded that activation with syngas at the lower pressure would be the most desirable for the better activity and stability on the iron-based catalyst.

Kinetics of the water-gas shift reaction in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis over a nano-structured iron catalyst

Based on formate and direct oxidation mechanisms,three Langmuir-Hinshelwood-Hougen-Watson （LHHW） kinetic models of the water-gasshift （WGS） reaction over a nano-structured iron catalyst under Fischer-Tropsch synthesis （FTS） reaction conditions were derived and compared with those over the conventional catalyst.The conventional and nanostructured Fe/Cu/La/Si catalysts were prepared by co-precipitation of Fe and Cu nitrates in aqueous media and water-oil micro-emulsion,respectively.The WGS kinetic data were measured by experiments over a wide range of reaction conditions and comparisons were also made for various rate equations.WGS rate expressions based on the formate mechanism with the assumption that the formation of formate is rate determining step were found to be the best.

Fabrication of K-promoted iron/carbon nanotubes composite catalysts for the Fischer–Tropsch synthesis of lower olefins

K-promoted iron/carbon nanotubes composite（i.e., Fe K-OX） was prepared by a redox reaction between carbon nanotubes and K2FeO4followed by thermal treatments on a purpose as the Fischer–Tropsch catalyst for the direct conversion of syngas to lower olefins. Its catalytic behaviors were compared with those of the other two Fe-IM and Fe K-IM catalysts prepared by impregnation method followed by thermal treatments. The novel Fe K-OX composite catalyst is found to exhibit higher hydrocarbon selectivity,lower olefins selectivity and chain growth probability as well as better stability. The catalyst structureperformance relationship has been established using multiple techniques including XRD, Raman, TEM and EDS elemental mapping. In addition, effects of additional potassium into the Fe K-OX composite catalyst on the FTO performance were also investigated and discussed. Additional potassium promoters further endow the catalysts with higher yield of lower olefins. These results demonstrated that the introduction method of promoters and iron species plays a crucial role in the design and fabrication of highly active,selective and stable iron-based composite catalysts for the FTO reaction.

Reduction of Sulphur-containing Aromatic Nitro Compounds with Hydrazine Hydrate over Iron(III) Oxide-MgO Catalyst

Sulphur-containing aromatic amines were prepared efficiently in good to excellent yields by reduction of the corresponding sulphur-containing aromatic nitro compounds with hydrazine hydrate in the presence of iron（Ⅲ） oxide-MgO catalyst. The catalyst exhibited high activity and stability for the reduction of sulphur-containing aromatic nitro compounds. The yields of sulphur-containing aromatic amines were up to 91-99 % at 355 K after reduction for 1-4 h over this catalyst.

Investigation on Supported Iron Catalyst for Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis

The supported iron catalyst Fe 2O 3 La 2O 3 γ Al 2O 3 has been studied by temperature programmed reduction(TPR) and Mssbauer spectroscopy(MES). The results show that this catalyst, in which the carrier γ Al 2O 3 is modified by La 2O 3, exhibits much stronger active component support interaction, stabilizes the ferrous phase and thus is more difficult to reduce to α Fe. Meanwhile no iron carbide can be detected after Fischer Tropsch synthesis accounting for a strong interaction between the active phase and the carrier.

Study on the Precursor Phase Composition of Fused Iron Catalyst for Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis

The effect of the precursor composition of fused iron catalyst on the performance of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis was investigated. XRD, BET and CO2 adsorption experiments were carried out to provide better insight into the relationship therein. The results showed that the selectivity of C5＋ hydrocarbon products was dependent on the mole ratio of Fe^2＋/Fe^3＋, which was represented by a hump-shaped curve. Catalysts with precursors containing Fe3O4 phase favored the magnetite spinal formation during F-T reaction, while Fe（1-x）O-based catalysts were more likely to favor the formation and growth of the iron carbide crystals.

Water-assisted highly enhanced crystallographic etching of graphene by iron catalysts

We report the assisted role of water vapor in crystallographic cutting of graphene via iron catalysts in reduced atmosphere. Without water, graphene can be tailored with smooth trenches composed of straight lines with angles of 60℃ or 120℃ between two adjacent trenches. After the addition of water, new chacteristics are found： such as almost no iron particles can be detected along the trenches; each trench becomes longer and lots of graphene nanoribbons can be generated. The underlying mechanism is proposed and discussed, which is attributed to stimulating and lengthening of the catalytic activity of iron particles by water vapor.

Characterizations of Skeletal Iron Catalysts Prepared from Rapidly and Naturally Quenched Fe-Al Alloys

Surface morphology, physical-chemical properties of skeletal iron catalysts prepared by leaching of the rapidly quenched(RQ) and naturally quenched(NQ) Fe-Al alloys with an aqueous solution of NaOH were characterized by using a series of techniques including XRD, BET, XPS, SEM, H_2 and CO-TPD. It was found that the RQ skeletal iron catalyst exhibits a smaller particle size, larger specific surface area and pore volume than the NQ one. The H_2 and CO-TPD experiments showed that the RQ skeletal iron exhibits stronger affinity for H_2 and milder affinity for CO compared with the NQ one. But the NQ skeletal catalyst shows a better thermal stability than the RQ catalyst.

RAMAN SPECTRA OF HYDROGEN ADSPECIES ON AMMONIA SYNTHESIS IRON CATALYST

Raman peaks at 1951 and 2165 cm^(-1) can be confirmed further by H_2/D_2 isotope exchange as H-adspecies on the doubly promoted iron catalyst for ammonia synthesis and are probably ascribed to two terminally adsorbed H-species.

Study on Catalytic Behavior of Iron-based Catalyst with IITP as Electron Donor in the Polymerization of Butadiene

In this study,a novel iron-based catalyst system,Fe(acac)3/(isocyanoimino)triptenylphosphorane(IITP)/AlR3,was employed for the synthesis of syndiotactic 1,2-polybutadiene in hexane.This catalyst system exhibits remarkably high catalytic activity,achieving a polymerization activity of 762 kgpolymer·molcatalyst^(-1)·h^(-1)at 50℃with a[BD]/[Fe]molar ratio of 20000.Furthermore,living polymerization characteristic were observed during the investigation of the polymerization kinetics of 1,3-butadiene polymerization.These characteristics were well demonstrated by a narrow molecular weight distribution(PDI≈2.0)of the resulting polybutadiene and a linear relationship between-ln(1-c)and polymerization time as well as number average molecular weight and polymer yield.The resultant polymer showed a 1,2-selectivity of approximately 76%and stereoregularity ranging from 62%to 73%(rrrr).Additionally,through kinetic studies on polymerization reaction,an apparent activation energy Ea value of this catalytic system was calculated to be 84.98 kJ·mol^(-1),which suggests that high polymerization temperature favors efficient polymerization.

High Temperature Iron Ethylene Polymerization Catalysts Bearing N,N,N'-2-(1-(2,4-Dibenzhydryl-6-fluorophenylimino)ethyl)-6-(1-(arylphenylimino)ethyl)pyridines

The N,N,N'-ferrous chloride complexes,[2-{CMeN(2,4-(CHPh)_(2)-6-FC_(6)H_(2))}-6-(CMeNAr)C_(5)H_(3)N]FeCl_(2)(Ar=2,6-Me_(2)C_(6)H_(3) Fe1,2,6-Et_(2)C_(6)H_(3)Fe2,2,6-^(i)Pr_(2)C_(6)H_(3) Fe3,2,4,6-Me_(3)C_(6)H_(2) Fe4 and 2,6-Et_(2)-4-MeC_(6)H_(2) Fe5),each possessing one N-2,4-dibenzhydryl-6-fluorophenyl group,were readily synthesized from their respective unsymmetrical bis(imino)pyridines,L1-L5.Structural identification of Fe2 highlighted the variation in the steric properties provided by the dissimilar N-aryl groups.Following pre-treatment with either MAO or MMAO,complexes Fe1-Fe5 all displayed,at an operating temperature of 80℃,high activities for ethylene polymerization with levels falling in the order:Fe4> Fe1> Fe5> Fe2> Fe3.Notably,Fe4/MAO displayed the highest activity of 1.94×10^(7) g_(PE)·mol_(Fe)^(-1)·h^(-1) of the study with only a modest loss in performance at 90℃.Generally,the resulting polyethylenes were highly linear(T_(m) range:122-132℃),narrowly disperse and of low molecular weight(M_(w) range:6.73-46.04kg·mol^(-1)),with the most sterically hindered Fe3 forming the highest molecular weight polymer of the series.End-group analysis by ^(1)H-and ^(13)CNMR spectroscopy revealed saturated alkyl(n-propyl and i-propyl) and unsaturated vinyl chain ends indicative of the role of both β-H elimination and chain transfer to aluminum as termination pathways.By comparison with previou sly reported iron precatalysts with similar tridentate ligand skeletons,it is evident that the introduction of a large benzhydryl group in combination with a fluorine as the ortho-substituents of one N-aryl group has the effect of enhancing thermal stability of the iron polymerization catalyst whilst maintaining appreciable polymer molecular weight.

Deactivation studies of bifunctional Fe-HZSM5 catalyst in Fischer-Tropsch process

A physical mixture of alkali-promoted iron catalyst with binder based on Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and an acidic co-catalyst （HZSM5） for syngas conversion to hydrocarbons was studied in a fixed bed micro reactor. Deactivation data were obtained during the synthesis over a 1400 h period. The deactivation studies on iron catalyst showed that this trend followed the phase transformation Fe2.2C （ ε′） → Fe5C2 （χ） → Fe3C （θ）, and the final predominant phase of the catalyst was Fe3C （θ）. Deactivation of zeolite component in bifunctional catalyst may be caused by coking over the zeolitic component, dealumination of zeolite crystals, and migration of alkali promoters from iron catalyst under synthesis conditions. The deactivation rate of iron catalyst was also obtained.

Hydrocarbon production rates in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis over a Fe/Cu/La/Si catalyst

The detailed kinetics of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis over an industrial Fe/Cu/La/Si catalyst was studied in a continuous spinning basket re- actor under the conditions relevant to industrial operations. Reaction rate equations were derived on the basis of Langmuir-Hinshelwood- Hougen-Watson type models for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis based on possible reactions sets originated from the carbide, enolic and combined enol/carbide mechanisms. Kinetic model candidates were evaluated by the global optimization of kinetic parameters, which were realized by first minimization of multi-response objective functions with conventional Levenberg-Marquardt method. It was found that an enolic mech- anism based model could produce a good fit of the experimental data. The activation energy for paraffin formation is 95 kJ.mo1-1 which is smaller than that for olefin formation （121 kJ.mol-1）.

Effects of iron precursors on the structure and catalytic performance of iron molybdate prepared by mechanochemical route for methanol to formaldehyde

Mechanochemical synthesis has been applied for many novel material preparations and gained more and more attention due to green and high-efficiency recently. In order to explore the influences of iron precursors on structure and performance of iron molybdate catalyst prepared by mechanochemical route, three typical and cheap iron precursors have been used in preparation of iron molybdate catalyst. Many characterization methods have been employed to obtain the physical and chemical properties of iron molybdate catalyst. Results indicate that iron precursors have the significant impact on the phase composition, crystal morphology and catalytic performance in the conversion of methanol to formaldehyde. It is hard to regulate the phase composition by changing Mo/Fe mole ratios for Fe2(SO4)3 as iron precursor. In addition, as for Fe2(SO4)3, the formaldehyde yield is lower than that from iron molybdate catalyst prepared with Fe(NO3)3·9H2O due to the reduction in Fe2(MoO4)3 phase as active phase. Based on mechanochemical and coprecipitation method, the solvent water could be a key factor for the formation of MoO3 and Fe2(MoO4) for FeCl3·6H2O and Fe2(SO4)3 as precursors. Iron molybdate catalyst prepared with Fe(NO3)3·9H2O by mechanochemical route, shows the best methanol conversion and formaldehyde yield in this reaction.

Controllable synthesis of MnO_(2)/iron mesh monolithic catalyst and its significant enhancement for toluene oxidation

A series of monolithic MnO_(2)/iron mesh (IM) catalysts for oxidation of toluene were successfully prepared by using in situ hydrothermal growth.MnO_(2)can grow firmly on the IM substrates surface with a shedding rate of only 0.14%.Due to the highest O_(ads) and high-valent Mn^(4+) and Fe^(3+) elements,the temperature at 50% and 90% toluene conversion (T_(50%) and T_(90%)) was 252 and 265℃,respectively for the best performance catalyst (hydrothermal temperature of 80℃,hydrothermal time of 12 h,and precursor manganese ion concentration of 0.03 mol/L).The catalysts also presented good water resistance and cycle performance.In-situ DRIFTS results suggesting that toluene was first rapid transformed into the reaction intermediate species (benzoate species) and then converted to CO_(2)and H_(2)O.Therefore,this work provides a new direction for the research and application of IM-based monolithic catalysts.