Synthesis of Ag promoted porous Fe3O4 microspheres with tunable pore size as catalysts for Fischer-Tropsch production of lower olefins

Ag promoted porous Fe3O4 microspheres with tunable pore size were synthesized via one-pot solvothermal method and employed as catalysts for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The introduction of Ag played an important role in regulating the pore size of catalysts and the dispersion of Fe. Comparable to unmodified catalyst in this system, Ag promoted Fe-based catalysts displayed excellent selectivity to lower olefins, particularly for Fe-0.9Ag with smaller pore size of 133 nm and Fe dispersion of 10.1%. The maximum selectivity to C-2 through C-4 olefins was 43.0 wt%, and the selectivity to CH4 was low to 14.8 wt.%. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.