Biosugarcane-based carbon support for high-performance iron-based Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Exploiting new carbon supports with adjustable metal-support interaction and low price is of prime importance to realize the maximum active iron efficiency and industrial-scale application of Fe-based catalysts for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS). Herein, a simple, tunable, and scalable biochar support derived from the sugarcane bagasse was successfully prepared and was first used for FTS. The metal-support interaction was precisely controlled by functional groups of biosugarcane-based carbon material and different iron species sizes. All catalysts synthesized displayed high activities, and the iron-time-yield of Fe-4/C-bio even reached 1,198.9 mu mol g(Fe)(-1) s(-1). This performance was due to the unique structure and characteristics of the biosugarcane-based carbon support, which possessed abundant C-O, C=O (eta(1)(O) and eta(2)(C, O)) functional groups, thus endowing the moderate metal-support interaction, high dispersion of active iron species, more active epsilon-Fe2C phase, and, most importantly, a high proportion of FexC/Fe-surf, facilitating the maximum iron efficiency and intrinsic activity of the catalyst.