Comprehensive Understanding of SiO2-promoted Fe Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis Catalysts: Fe-SiO2 Interaction and Beyond

Abstract The physico-chemical properties of SiO2-promoted Fe-based Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalysts were traditionally considered to be governed by Fe-SiO2 interaction. Here we found that the configuration between SiO2 and iron species also played a pivotal role in determining the structure and thus FTS performance of the catalysts. Fe@Si catalyst with embedded structure, impregnated Fe/Si catalyst as well as precipitated Fe-Si catalyst was fabricated by different methods respectively, and they were thoroughly characterized by multiple techniques. The results indicated that, despite the weaker Fe-SiO2 interaction, the construction of SiO2 shell outside the iron species core in Fe@Si catalyst strongly inhibited the reduction of iron oxides due to the confining effect of SiO2 shell, which increased the diffusion resistance of H2O generated in the reduction process. However, the sintering of iron species was effectively hindered even during FTS reaction by the physical separation of SiO2 shell. In contrast, iron species in impregnated Fe/Si and precipitated Fe-Si catalyst experienced aggregation with different degrees. The reduction behavior of these two catalysts were well correlated with the strength of Fe-SiO2 interaction. The FTS performance showed that both Fe@Si and Fe/Si catalyst exhibited higher initial activity but deactivated gradually, while the activity of Fe-Si catalyst displayed an opposite trend. These phenomena were discussed in terms of the variation of iron carbides content at different stages, which was determined not only by Fe-SiO2 interaction, but also by the manner that SiO2 and iron species constructed. The present study contributed a new understanding of the structure-performance relationship for SiO2-promoted Fe-based FTS catalysts.