Effects of the Different Supports on the Activity and Selectivity of Iron-Cobalt Bimetallic Catalyst for Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis

Silica, alumina, and activated carbon supported iron-cobalt catalysts were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation. These catalysts have been characterized by BET, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, and temperature-programmed reduction （TPR）. Activity and selectivity of iron-cobalt supported on different carriers for CO hydrogenation were studied under the conditions of 1.5 MPa, 493 K, 630 h^-1, and H2/CO ratio of 1.6. The results indicate that the activity, C4 olefin/（C4 olefin＋C4 paraffin） ratio, and C5 olefin/（C5 olefin＋C5 paraffin） decrease in the order of Fe-Co/SiO2, Fe-Co/AC1, Fe-Co/Al2O3 and Fe- Co/AC2. The activity of Fe-Co/SiO2 reached a maximum. The results of TPR show that the Fe-Co/SiO2 catalyst is to some extent different. XRD patterns show that the Fe-Co/SiO2 catalyst differs significantly from the others; it has two diffraction peaks. The active spinel phase is correlated with the supports.

A critical review towards the causes of the iron-based catalysts deactivation mechanisms in the selective oxidation of hydrogen sulfide to elemental sulfur from biogas

Hydrogen sulfide(H_(2)S) not only presents significant environmental concerns but also induces severe corrosion in industrial equipment,even at low concentrations.Among various technologies,the selective oxidation of hydrogen sulfide(SOH_(2)S) to elemental sulfur(S) has emerged as a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution.Due to its unique properties,iron oxide has been extensively investigated as a catalyst for SOH_(2)S;however,rapid deactivation has remained a significant drawback.The causes of iron oxide-based catalysts deactivation mechanisms in SOH_(2)S,including sulfur or sulfate deposition,the transformation of iron species,sintering and excessive oxygen vacancy formation,and active site loss,are thoroughly examined in this review.By focusing on the deactivation mechanisms,this review aims to provide valuable insights into enhancing the stability and efficiency of iron-based catalysts for SOH_(2)S.

PROSPECTS AND CRUCIAL PROBLEMS IN OLIGOMERIZATION AND POLYMERIZATION WITH IRON AND COBALT COMPLEX CATALYSTS

The discovery of highly active 2,6-bis（imino）pyridyl iron and cobalt complexes provided a milestone of latetransition metal catalysts for ethylene oligomerization and polymerization with being currently investigated for the scale-up process. The crucial problems are remaining in the catalytic systems： the catalytic systems targeting ethylene polymerization produce more oligomers at elevated reaction temperatures, however, there is a recognizable amount of high-molecularweight polyethylene remained in the modified catalytic system for the oligomerization process. Beyond the modification of bis（imino）pyridyl metal complexes, several alternative proeatalysts＇ models have been developed in our group. This review highlighted the achievements in exploring new iron and cobalt complexes with tridentate NNN ligands as procatalysts for ethylene oligomerization and polymerization.

Low Environmental Load Process for the Beckmann Rearrangement of Cycloalkanone Oximes by Bronsted Acid Catalyst with Cobalt Salts

Beckmann rearrangements of oximes to lactams often require harsh conditions and/or the use of large amounts of acid catalyst. To reduce the amount of Bronsted acid required, and to avoid the formation of a large amount of undesirable byproducts under mild reaction conditions, a low environmental load process was developed. Beckmann rearrangements of cyclohexanone oxime and cyclooctanone oxime were achieved using a combination of a Bronsted acid and cobalt tetra-fluoroborate hexahydrate. Various Bronsted acid catalysts (10 - 20 mol%) were used to obtain the corresponding lactams in high yields at 80℃.

Iron-based Fischer–Tropsch synthesis of lower olefins: The nature of χ-Fe_5C_2 catalyst and why and how to introduce promoters

As a sustainable and short-flow process, iron-catalyzed direct conversion of CO-rich syngas to lower olefins without intermediate steps, i.e., Fischer–Tropsch-to-Olefins (FTO), has received increasing attention. However, its fundamental understanding is usually limited by the complex crystal phase composition in addition to the interferences of the promoter effects and inevitable catalyst deactivation. Until recently, the combination of multiple in-situ/ex-situ characterizations and theoretical studies has evidenced Hägg iron carbide (χ-Fe5C2) as the dominant active phase of iron-based Fischer–Tropsch catalysts. This perspective attempts to review and discuss some recent progresses on the nature of χ-Fe5C2catalyst and the crucial effects of promoters on the FTO performance from theoretical and experimental viewpoints, aiming to provide new insights into the rational design of iron-based FTO catalysts. © 2016 Science Press

Glycerol steam reforming over calcium hydroxyapatite supported cobalt and cobalt-cerium catalysts

Calcium hydroxyapatite（HAp） supported cobalt and cobalt-cerium catalysts were examined for hydrogen production in glycerol steam reforming. The catalysts were synthesized by incipient wetness impregnation method and characterized through X-ray diffraction, adsorption-desorption isotherms of N2 and temperature-programmed reduction of H2. Catalytic properties were examined in terms of glycerol conversion, selectivity toward hydrogen and C-containing products in temperature range of 650-800 ℃.The effect of active metal reduction and residence time（thereby flow feed rate） was analysed. It was found that the growth of residence time increased the hydrogen selectivity in the whole temperatures range whereas the catalyst reduction, before the catalytic process, decreased the hydrogen selectivity at temperatures lower than 750 ℃. The cerium addition improved the catalytic behaviour for hydrogen production via glycerol steam reforming. Cerium oxide suppressed the sintering of cobalt particles and as a result Co-Ce/HAp ensured higher stability and H2 selectivity than Co/HAp. Under reaction conditions investigated in this study, the highest selectivity toward hydrogen at 650 ℃ was obtained for 7.5 Co-Ce/HAp catalyst.

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.

Ti-Si composite oxide-supported cobalt catalysts for CO_2 hydrogenation

In the present work, different silica-based supported cobalt （Co） catalysts were synthesized and used for CO2 hydrogenation for methanation. Different supports, such as SSP, MCM-41, TiSSP and TiMCM were used to prepare Co catalysts with 20 wt% Co loading. The supports and catalysts were characterized by means of N2 physisorption, XRD, SEM/EDX, XPS, TPR and CO chemisorption. It is found that after calcination of catalysts, Ti is present in the form of anatase. The introduction of Ti plays important roles in the properties of Co catalysts by：（i） facilitating the reduction of Co oxides species which are strongly interacted with support, （ii） preventing the formation of silicate compounds, and （iii） inhibiting the RWGS reaction. Based on CO2 hydrogenation, the CoTiMCM catalyst exhibites the highest activity and stability.

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.

Effects of Catalyst and Additive Containing Li, Na, or Ca on Reduction of Iron Oxide/Carbon Composite Pellets

The catalyst containing 0.69% (mass fraction) of Li+, Na+, or Ca2+ were synthesized, and the catalytic effect on the reduction of iron oxide/carbon composite pellets were investigated by comparing with that of additive at 850 degreesC. The effect of the catalyst was greater than that of the additive, it can be considered that catalyst promoted the formation of iron nucleus early on reduction processes of iron oxide/carbon composite pellets. In addition, both effects of catalyst and additive increased after added carbon powder into the pellets, but the extent of increase decreased when the carbon powder exceeded a suitable content (about 4%), this amount is less than that of carbon needed theoretically on the reduction from hematite to iron.

Kinetics and product distribution studies on ruthenium-promoted cobalt/alumina Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalyst

Hydrocarbon production rates and distributions on ruthenium promoted alumina supported cobalt Fischer-Tropsch synthesis （FTS） catalyst were studied by the concept of two superimposed Anderson-Schulz-Flory （ASF） distributions.The results indicated that the characterizing growth probabilities α1 and α2 were strongly dependent on reaction conditions.By increasing the H2 /CO partial pressure ratios and reaction temperatures,deviation from normal ASF distribution decreases and the double-α-ASF distribution changes into a straight line.Based on the concept of double-α-ASF distribution,a useful rate equation for the production of hydrocarbons under industrial reaction conditions is obtained.

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.

Preparation of Nano-Sized γ-Al_2O_3 Supported Iron Catalyst for Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis by Solvated Metal Atom Impregnation Methods

Two types of small iron clusters supported on γ-Al2O3-RT（dehydroxylated at room temperature） and γ-Al2O3-800 （dehydroxylated at 800 ℃） were prepared by solvated metal atom impregnation （SMAI） techniques. The iron atom precursor complex, bis（toluene）iron（0） formed in the metal atom reactor, was impregnated into γ-Al2O3 having different concentrations of surface hydroxyl groups to study the effect of surface hydroxylation on the crucial stage of iron cluster formation. Catalysts prepared in this way were characterized by TEM, Mǒssbauer, and chemisorption measurements, and the results show that higher concentration of surface hydroxyl groups of γ-Al2O3-RT favors the formation of more positively charged supported iron cluster Fen/γ-Al2O3-RT, and the lower concentration of surface hydroxyl groups of γ-Al2O3-800 favors the formation of basically neutral supported iron cluster Fen/γ-Al2O3-800. The measured results also indicate that the higher concentration of surface hydroxyl groups causes the rapid decomposition of precursor complex, bis（toluene）iron（0）, and favors the formation of relatively large iron cluster. Consequently, these two types of catalysts show different catalytic properties in Fischer-Tropsch reaction. The catalytic pattern of Fen/γ-Al2O3-RT in F-T reaction is similar to that of the unreduced γ-Fe2O3 and that of Fen/γ-Al2O3-800 is similar to that of the reduced α-Fe2O3.

Preparation and catalytic behavior of reduced graphene oxide supported cobalt oxide hybrid nanocatalysts for CO oxidation

The reduced graphene oxide （rGO） supported cobalt oxide nanocatalysts were prepared by the conventional precipitationand hydrothermal method. The as-prepared rGO-Co3O4 was characterized by the XRD, Raman spectrum, SEM, TEM, N2-sorption,UV-Vis, XPS and H2-TPR measurements. The results show that the spinel cobalt oxide nanoparticles are highly fragmented on therGO support and possess uniform particle size, and the as-prepared catalysts possess high specific surface area and narrow pore sizedistribution. The catalytic properties of the as-prepared rGO-Co3O4 catalysts for CO oxidation were evaluated through acontinuous-flow fixed-bed microreactor-gas chromatograph system. The catalyst with 30% （mass fraction） reduced graphene oxideexhibits the highest activity for CO complete oxidation at 100 ℃.

Controlled Radical Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate Catalyzed by Hybrid Supported Iron Catalyst

A supported iron catalyst, which was prepared by anchoring FeCl2/FeCl3 on the cross-linking macroporous polyacrylate ion exchange resin, was evaluated via the controlled radical polymerization. When a small amount of CuCl2/ Me6TREN was added, the controllability of the polymerization over the iron-mediated catalyst was significantly improved（Mw/Mn = 1.23-1.73 ）, affording a polymer with a low residual metal via a simple catalyst separation procedure. After suitable regeneration, the supported iron catalyst could also he recycled. UV-Vis analysis showed that the additional copper catalyst could facilitate the radical deactivation process.

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.

Effect of the support on cobalt carbide catalysts for sustainable production of olefins from syngas

Co2C‐based catalysts with SiO2,γ‐Al2O3,and carbon nanotubes(CNTs)as support materials were prepared and evaluated for the Fischer‐Tropsch to olefin(FTO)reaction.The combination of catalytic performance and structure characterization indicates that the cobalt‐support interaction has a great influence on the Co2C morphology and catalytic performance.The CNT support facilitates the formation of a CoMn composite oxide during calcination,and Co2C nanoprisms were observed in the spent catalysts,resulting in a product distribution that greatly deviates from the classical Anderson‐Schulz‐Flory(ASF)distribution,where only 2.4 C%methane was generated.The Co3O4 phase for SiO2‐andγ‐Al2O3‐supported catalysts was observed in the calcined sample.After reduction,CoO,MnO,and low‐valence CoMn composite oxide were generated in theγ‐Al2O3‐supported sample,and both Co2C nanospheres and nanoprisms were identified in the corresponding spent catalyst.However,only separated phases of CoO and MnO were found in the reduced sample supported by SiO2,and Co2C nanospheres were detected in the spent catalyst without the evidence of any Co2C nanoprisms.The Co2C nanospheres led to a relatively high methane selectivity of 5.8 C%and 12.0 C%of theγ‐Al2O3‐and SiO2‐supported catalysts,respectively.These results suggest that a relatively weak cobalt‐support interaction is necessary for the formation of the CoMn composite oxide during calcination,which benefits the formation of Co2C nanoprisms with promising catalytic performance for the sustainable production of olefins via syngas.

Effects of Potassium and Manganese Promoters on Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanotube-Supported Iron Catalysts for CO_2 Hydrogenation

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes （NCNTs） were used as a support for iron （Fe） nanoparticles applied in car- bon dioxide （CO_2） hydrogenation at 633 K and 25 bar （1 bar = 10-5 Pa）. The Fe/NCNT catalyst promoted with both potassium （K） and manganese （Mn） showed high performance in CO_2 hydrogenation, reaching 34.9% conversion with a gas hourly space velocity （GHSV） of 3.1 L-（g·h）-1. Product selectivities were high for olefin products and low for short-chain alkanes for the K-promoted catalysts. When Fe/NCNT catalyst was promot- ed with both K and Mn, the catalytic activity was stable for 60 h of reaction time. The structural effect of the Mn promoter was demonstrated by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, temperature-programmed reduction （TPR） with molecular hydrogen （H2）, and in situ X-ray absorption near-edge structure （XANES） analysis. The Mn pro- moter stabilized wtistite （FeO） as an intermediate and lowered the TPR onset temperature. Catalytic ammo- nia （NH_3） decomposition was used as an additional probe reaction for characterizing the promoter effects. The Fe/NCNT catalyst promoted with both K and Mn had the highest catalytic activity, and the Mn-promoted Fe/NCNT catalysts had the highest thermal stability under reducing conditions.

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.

Simple, Selective, and Sensitive Spectrophotometric Method for Determination of Trace Amounts of Nickel(Ⅱ), Copper (Ⅱ), Cobalt (Ⅱ), and Iron (Ⅲ) with a Novel Reagent 2-Pyridine Carboxaldehyde Isonicotinyl Hydrazone

A selective and sensitive reagent of 2-pyridine carboxaldehyde isonicotinyl hydrazone（2-PYAINH） was synthesized and studied for the spectrophotometric determination of nickel, copper, cobalt, and iron in detail. At a pH value of 7.0, 9,0, 9.0, and 8.0, respectively, which greatly increased the selectivity; nickel, copper, cobalt, and iron reacted with 2-PYAINH to form a 1：2 yellow-orange, 1：2 yellow-green, 1：2 yellow and 1：1 yellow complexes, with absorption peaks at 363, 352, 346, and 359 nm, respectively. Under the optimal conditions, Beer＇s law was obeyed over the ranges of 0.01-1.4, 0.01-1.5, 0.01-2.7, and 0.01-5.4 mg/L respectively. The apparent molar absorptivity and Sandell＇s sensitivities were 8.4×10^4, 5.2×10^4, 7.1×10^4, and 3.9×10^4 L·mol^-l·cm^-1, respectively, and 0.00069, 0.0012, 0.00078, and 0.0014 μg·cm2, respectively. The detection limits were found to be 0.001, 0.002, 0.003, and 0.01 mg/L, respectively. The detailed study of various interfering ions to make the method more sensitive was carried out and selective and several real samples were analyzed with satisfactory results.