Highly productive cobalt nanoparticles supported on mesocellular silica foam for the Fischer–Tropsch reaction

Abstract

We prepared highly productive Co/MCF nanocatalysts by a facile melt infiltration process using a hydrated Co precursor. The highly loaded Co particles (30 wt%) were uniformly dispersed in the large pores (30 nm) of the MCF support. The Co particles had an average diameter of 17 nm and clean surfaces without any surfactant. The Co/MCF catalyst exhibited very high hydrocarbon productivity (∼0.98 g_total HC g_cat⁻¹ h⁻¹) with high activity (CO conversion = 77%, CTY = 7.6 × 10⁻⁵ mol_CO g_Co⁻¹ s⁻¹) and good selectivity for C₅₊ long chain hydrocarbons (∼81%) in Fischer–Tropsch synthesis.