Enhancement of cobalt catalyst stability in Fischer–Tropsch synthesis using graphene nanosheets as catalyst support

Transformation of Graphite Recovered from Batteries into Functionalized Graphene-Based Sorbents and Application to Gas Desulfurization

The recycling and recovery of value-added secondary raw materials such as spent Zn/C batteries is crucial to reduce the environmental impact of wastes and to achieve cost-effective and sustainable processing technologies. The aim of this work is to fabricate reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-based sorbents with a desulfurization capability using recycled graphite from spent Zn/C batteries as raw material. Recycled graphite was obtained from a black mass recovered from the dismantling of spent batteries by a hydrometallurgical process. Graphene oxide (GO) obtained by the Tour's method was comparable to that obtained from pure graphite. rGO-based sorbents were prepared by doping obtained GO with NiO and ZnO precursors by a hydrothermal route with a final annealing step. Recycled graphite along with the obtained GO, intermediate (rGO-NiO-ZnO) and final composites (rGO-NiO-ZnO-400) were characterized by Wavelength Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (WDXRF) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) that corroborated the removal of metal impurities from the starting material as well as the presence of NiO- and ZnO-doped reduced graphene oxide. The performance of the prepared composites was evaluated by sulfidation tests under different conditions. The results revealed that the proposed rGO-NiO-ZnO composite present a desulfurization capability similar to that of commercial sorbents which constitutes a competitive alternative to syngas cleaning.

Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis: Study of Different Carbon Materials as Cobalt Catalyst Support

In this work, cobalt Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) catalyst supported on various carbon materials, i.e., carbon nanotube (CNT), activated carbon (AC), graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and carbon nanofiber (CNF), were prepared via impregnation method. Based on TGA, nitrogen physisorption, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, H2-TPR, NH3-TPD, ICP, SEM, and TEM characterization, it is confirmed that Co3O4 particles are dispersed uniformly on the supports of carbon nanotube, activated carbon and carbon nanofiber. Furthermore, the FT catalyst performance for as-prepared catalysts was evaluated in a fixed-bed reactor under the condition of H2:CO = 2:1, 5 SL·h−1·g−1, 2.5 MPa, and 210 °C. Interestingly, the defined three types of carbon materials exhibit superior performance and dispersion compared with graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide. The thermal stability and pore structure of the five carbon materials vary markedly, and H2-TPR result shows that the metal–support interaction is in the order of Co/GO > Co/CNT > Co/AC > Co/CNF > Co/rGO. In brief, the carbon nanofiber-supported cobalt catalyst showed the best dispersion, the highest CO conversion, and the lowest gas product but the highest heavy hydrocarbons (C5+) selectivity, which can be attributed to the intrinsic property of CNF material that can affect the catalytic performance in a complicated way. This work will open up a new gateway for cobalt support catalysts on various carbon-based materials for Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis.

Cobalt Based Catalysts Supported on Two Kinds of Beta Zeolite for Application in Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis

Co-containing Beta zeolite catalysts prepared by a wet impregnation and two-step postsynthesis method were investigated. The activity of the catalysts was examined in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS), performed at 30 atm and 260 °C. The physicochemical properties of all systems were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), in situ XRD, temperature programmed desorption of ammonia (NH3-TPD), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), temperature programmed reduction of hydrogen (TPR-H2), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Among the studied catalysts, the best results were obtained for the samples prepared by a two-step postsynthesis method, which achieved CO conversion of about 74%, and selectivity to liquid products of about 86%. The distribution of liquid products for Red-Me-Co20Beta was more diversified than for Red-Mi-Co20Beta. It was observed that significant influence of the zeolite dealumination of mesoporous zeolite on the catalytic performance in FTS. In contrast, for microporous catalysts, the dealumination did not play such a significant role and the relatively high activity is observed for both not dealuminated and dealuminated catalysts. The main liquid products of FTS on both mesoporous and microporous catalysts were C10-C14 isoalkanes and n-alkanes. The iso-/n-alkanes ratio for dealuminated zeolite catalysts was three times higher than that for not dealuminated ones, and was related to the presence of different kind of acidic sites in both zeolite catalysts.

Design and Fabrication of Highly Reducible PtCo Particles Supported on Graphene-Coated ZnO

Cobalt particles dispersed on an oxide support form the basis of many important heterogeneous catalysts. Strong interactions between cobalt and the support may lead to irreducible cobalt oxide formation, which is detrimental for the catalytic performance. Therefore, several strategies have been proposed to enhance cobalt reducibility, such as alloying with Pt or utilization of nonoxide supports. In this work, we fabricate bimetallic PtCo supported on graphene-coated ZnO with enhanced cobalt reducibility. By employing a model/planar catalyst formulation, we show that the surface reduction of cobalt oxide is substantially enhanced by the presence of the graphene support as compared to bare ZnO. Stimulated by these findings, we synthesized a realistic powder catalyst consisting of PtCo particles grafted on graphene-coated ZnO support. We found that the addition of graphene coating enhances the surface reducibility of cobalt, fully supporting the results obtained on the model system. Our study demonstrates that realistic catalysts with designed properties can be developed on the basis of insights gained from model catalytic formulation.

Preparation of SBA-15 with penetrating pores and their performance in Fischer–Tropsch synthesis

A novel SBA-15 material containing penetrating pores as supports of Co-based Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis (FTS) catalysts exhibits high catalytic performance due to improving access for reagent molecules to reach the active site, resulting in a facile transport of heavy hydrocarbons.