Cobalt Stabilization through Mesopore Confinement on TiO2 Support for Fischer-Tropsch Reaction

Cobalt supported on mesostructured TiO2 catalysts has been prepared by a wet-impregnation method. The Co/TiO2 catalytic system showed better catalytic performance after support calcination at 380 ?. Co nanoparticles appeared well distributed along the mesopore channels of TiO2. After reduction pretreatment and reaction, a drastic structural change leads to mesopore structure collapse and the dispersion of the Co nanoparticles on the external surface. Along this complex process, Co species first form discrete nanoparticles inside the pore and then diffuse out as the pore collapses. Through this confinement, a strong metal-support interaction effect is hindered, and highly stable metal active sites lead to better performance for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction toward C5+ products.

Automated summary

In this study, cobalt catalyst supported on mesostructured TiO2 was prepared and subjected to calcination and reduction. The results showed that cobalt nanoparticles were uniformly distributed along the mesopore channels of TiO2, and the highly stable metal active sites contributed to the generation of C5+ products in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction.