Effect of Ba and CN Additives on the Catalytic Performance of Co/Al2O3 in Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis

A simple and effective method to modify Co/Al2O3 catalyst to improve the catalytic performance in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction is described. It is found that the electron density on the cobalt surface increases via electron donation from the dopant Ba and CN species, leading to an enhanced C-5(+) selectivity and C-3 o/p ratio. However, the presence of Ba increases the cobalt crystalline size while the introduction of CN species leads to the formation of smaller cobalt nanoparticles and greatly increases their dispersion, thus resulting in a different distribution of heavy hydrocarbon products. Our work offers a new avenue to obtain catalyst with high activity and selectivity.