Large-scale synthesis of uniformly loaded cobalt nanoparticles on alumina for efficient clean fuel production

Abstract

Large-scale synthesis of cobalt nanoparticles supported on alumina (Co/Al₂O₃), which has well dispersed metallic cobalt around 15 nm, was conducted via a simple melt infiltration process of a cobalt hydrate salt and subsequent thermal reduction. The catalytic performance of Co/Al₂O₃ was studied for Fischer–Tropsch synthesis in order to optimize the liquid fuel productivity for target hydrocarbon products controlled by reaction pressures and temperatures. The catalyst showed promising CO conversions up to 76% with high hydrocarbon productivity (∼1.0 g_HC g_cat⁻¹ h⁻¹) and good stability.