Nanoparticles of Cu–Co alloy supported on high surface area LaFeO₃—preparation and catalytic performance for higher alcohol synthesis from syngas

Abstract

LaFeO 3 supported Cu-Co bimetallic catalysts with high surface area and mesoporosity were prepared by impregnation combined with nanocasting method, and the resulting catalysts were used for higher alcohol synthesis (HAS) from syngas. These catalysts were characterized by using N 2 adsorption and desorption, X-ray diffraction, temperature programmed reduction, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrometry techniques. The results showed that the catalysts were highly active and selective to higher alcohols, and meanwhile stable for HAS. Characterization results indicated that Cu-Co was in the state of a solid solution alloy in the reduced catalysts, and the formation of Cu-Co alloy led to the high selectivity to higher alcohols. The elements in the catalysts were uniformly mixed and in interaction, thus sintering of the nanoparticles in the catalysts was restricted, resulting in a good stability. The high activity was mainly attributed to the high surface area and mesoporosity. Compared with Cu-Co/LaFeO 3 prepared by conventional methods, Cu-Co/LaFeO 3 with higher surface area and mesoporosity exhibited better activity and higher selectivity to higher alcohols. This design scheme may be applied to other bimetallic catalysts, and many transition metal ions can act as the lattice ions of perovskite-type oxides besides copper and cobalt.

Perovskite-Type Oxides as the Catalyst Precursors for Preparing Supported Metallic Nanocatalysts: A Review

“…While the critical shortage for preparing B/AO δ from ABO 3 is the low specific surface area of ABO 3 , which is generally less than 10 m 2 g –1 . Actually, the low specific surface area of ABO 3 is a critical problem for perovskite-type catalysts. − Thus, strategies focused on preparing PTOs with high specific surface area can be found, such as solid-state reactions, co-precipitation, freeze-drying, flame-hydrolysis, sol–gel processes, and reactive grinding. − However, the resultant PTOs still presented comparatively low specific surface areas, which ranged from 30 to 40 m 2 g –1 , due to that the high-temperature treatment is generally required for obtaining perovskite phase.…”

Cobalt–copper based catalysts for higher terminal alcohols synthesis via Fischer–Tropsch reaction

“…Various types of heterogeneous catalysts including Rh noble metal [11][12][13][14][15] , CoCu [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] and CuZn [29,30] mixed metals as well as hydrodesulfurization-type MoS 2 [31][32][33] were all tested for higher alcohols synthesis via CO hydrogenation. CoCu-based catalysts were found to be among the most promising ones for various reasons.…”

“…After the initial reports by IFP, a large number of patents (filed by Mobil Oil, BP and Chem Systems) [40][41][42][43] and papers [17][18][19][20]44,45] catalysts for higher alcohols saw the light of the day. More recently, such catalysts have been examined in detail [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63] . It seems to be clear by now that the detailed catalyst formulation as well as the methods of their preparation are key to the performance for higher alcohols synthesis.…”

Liquid-phase hydrogenation of bio-refined succinic acid to 1,4-butanediol using bimetallic catalysts

“…The slight shift of 2θ value for Ru from 43.3°for Ru 0.3 Co 0 .7 to 43.4°in Ru 0.1 Co 0 . 9 probably corresponded to a Ru phase that has some Co in the lattice [35,36].…”