Design of ruthenium-zeolite nanocomposites for enhanced hydrocarbon synthesis from syngas

The purpose of this work is the design of metal-zeolite nanocomposite catalysts for Fischer–Tropsch synthesis, containing ruthenium nanoparticles, uniformly distributed in the hierarchical BEA zeolites. The use of ruthenium avoids the formation of inert hardly reducible inert metal silicates and metal aluminates. Carbon nanotubes with supported metal oxide nanoparticles play the role of sacrificial template, which allows creating mesoporosity and bringing metallic functionality inside the zeolite matrix. Both mesoporosity and larger micropores of the BEA zeolite facilitate the localization of metal nanoparticles within the zeolite structure and diffusion of the reacting molecules. Compared to the conventional zeolite supported metal catalysts, the synthesized hierarchical ruthenium-zeolites exhibited much higher activity and lower methane selectivity in Fischer–Tropsch synthesis.