Synthesis of higher alcohols by the Fischer-Tropsch reaction over activated carbon supported CoCuMn catalysts

Activated carbon supported CoCuMn catalysts prepared by incipient co-impregnation were studied using the Fischer-Tropsch reaction, XRD, HR-TEM, and H-2-TPR techniques. The results showed that good activities and selectivities towards C-1-C-14 alcohols can be obtained with the fractions of C-2-C-5 alcohols up to 80% in total alcohol distribution. It was found that increasing the Cu/Co composition ratio resulted in the enhancement of alcohol selectivity. Furthermore, our characterizations revealed that large Cu nano-particles were decorated by small spherical Co nano-particles; moreover, we speculate that such constructions were responsible for the favored formation of C2+ alcohols. It was also considered that smaller cobalt particles probably resulted in a greater number of Co-0 species and thus contributed to the improvement of CO conversion.