Preparation of Co/SiO₂ fiber catalysts by electrospinning for CO hydrogenation

Abstract

To prepare cobalt/silica fiber catalysts via electrospinning technique for CO hydrogenation. The optimum condition for fiber electrospinning was needle size of 0.4 mm, PVP content of 70wt%, voltage of 20 kV and the tip to collector distance of 15 cm. At the optimum condition, the diameter of the fiber was smallest at diameter of 448 nm, analyzed by SEM technique. The cobalt/silica fiber catalyst was prepared by impregnation method using cobalt acetate as a source of cobalt at various loading percentages (5, 10, 15 and 20wt% of metal loading). The cobalt/silica fiber catalysts were characterized by SEM/EDS, BET, TEM, XRD, TPR, and activity test for comparing to the conventional porous catalyst, cobalt/silica porous catalyst. The catalyst activity tests on CO hydrogenation over the fiber and porous catalysts were studied by following effects, support, reaction temperature, and cobalt contents. The operated temperature in CO hydrogenation was at 300℃, with %CO conversion of 19.75 and % methane selectivity of 88.35, higher than that of porous catalyst. And, the selectivity of carbon dioxide was lower than the porous catalyst, indicated the fiber catalysts was demoted the water gas shift reaction by decreasing the water absorbed on the fiber catalyst surface. The results on the effect of cobalt loading showed that 10%Co/SiO₂ fiber catalyst was the best catalyst for CO hydrogenation in this study.