Effect of CeO2 promotion on the catalytic performance of Co/ZrO2 catalysts for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

In this paper, the effect on the physico-chemical properties and catalytic performance of CeO2-modified Co/ZrO2 catalysts were investigated in the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) reaction. The CeO2-promoted catalysts with CeO2/ZrO2 ratios of 5 wt% and 10 wt% (denoted as 5 and 10) were prepared by the sequential incipient wetness method. The catalysts and/or supports were characterized by N-2 adsorption-desorption, XRD, TEM, TPR, XPS, and hydrogen chemisorption techniques. The experimental results indicated that an appropriate amount of CeO2 promoter added to Co/ZrO2 catalyst could increase the active sites of the catalysts due to the increase of reducibility and dispersion, thus further lead to a high FTS activity. In the meantime, CeO2 promoter could effectively inhibit water re-oxidation as well as further the aggregation of cobalt metal particles during the reaction. Therefore, CeO2-modified Co/ZrO2 catalysts displayed a better performance against deactivation in the FTS reaction. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.