Ferrofluid catalyzed water gas shift reaction to give carbon-dioxide and hydrogen

A ferrofluid consisting of colloidally dispersed magnetite particles in water was found to be an efficient selective catalyst for water gas shift reaction at 15–25 atmosphere of CO pressure in the temperature range of 423–553 K where the products obtained were only CO2 and H2. The reaction was studied as a function of variation of the concentration of catalyst, pressure of CO gas and temperature. Kinetic parameters suggested a mechanism involving first order dependence in CO and catalyst concentrations.