The modification of titanium in mesoporous silica for Co-based Fischer–Tropsch catalysts

Abstract

Ordered SBA-15 mesoporous silica with incorporated titanium was successfully synthesized via a one-pot hydrothermal crystallization method. The characterization including powder X-ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, transmission electron microscope, temperature-programmed reduction, temperature-programmed desorption, Fourier transform infrared and ultraviolet-visible-near infrared spectrometer was performed to explore the physical and chemical structures of both the supports and the catalysts. The results showed that titanium was successfully incorporated into the mesoporous silica framework with a limited amount of titanium (Si/Ti > 20), and the mesoporous structure was retained. However, the increased titanium content inevitably resulted in the formation of anatase TiO ₂ particles on the support surface. The increased incorporated titanium strengthened the interactions between cobalt species and supports, which was favorable for the cobalt species dispersion, despite the limited cobalt oxide reducibility. The enhanced metal-support interactions were beneficial for the CO/H₂ ratio at the active cobalt sites, which facilitated the formation of more C₅₊ hydrocarbons. This study provides a promising method for support modification with incorporated-heteroatoms for the rational development of Fischer–Tropsch catalysts.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Fischer–Tropsch synthesis / titanium incorporation / mesoporous silica / metal-support interactions / C₅₊ selectivity

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Acknowledgements

We thank the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 22078243) and the Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities (Grant No. BP0618007).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11705-022-2139-1 and is accessible for authorized users.

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