A hollow void catalyst of Co@C(Z-d)@void@CeO2 for enhancing the performance and stability of the Fischer–Tropsch synthesis

Abstract

To enhance the catalyst performance of Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS), removing the mass-transfer restriction in the catalysis synthesis is essential. Although the core–shell nanostructures can improve the activity and stability of the catalyst, they can restrict the reactants' diffusion towards the active sites and the transfer of the products from these sites in FTS. Creating an adequate porosity between the core and the outer shell of the catalyst structure can tackle this issue. In this work, the synthesized cobalt-based nano-catalyst is encapsulated with two shells and a middle porous shell. The first shell is a carbon shell at the core of the catalyst derived from ZIF-67, the second one is the outer shell of ceria, and the middle porous shell is formed by removing the sacrificial silica shell through the etching technique. The characterization and performance tests represent significant evidence of the etching treatment's impact on the FTS catalyst performance. Besides, molecular dynamics simulation is also utilized to clarify its effect. The FTS catalytic performance is enhanced more than 2 times with the etched catalyst versus the catalyst without it at 17.5 bar and a (H₂/CO) ratio of 1.2. In addition, not only does the etched catalyst with high porosity play the role of a nanoreactor and intensify its catalytic performance, but it also has higher stability.