Copper-cobalt based catalysts performances

Very recently Geus and co-workers [44, 45] have applied another method based on chemical complexes. This is the complex cyanide method to prepare both monocomponent (Fe or Co) and multicomponent Fischer-Tropsch catalysts. A large range of insoluble complex cyanides are known in which many metals can be combined, e.g. iron(n) hexacyanide and iron(m) hexacyanide can be combined with iron ions, but also with nickel, cobalt, copper, and zinc ions. Soluble complex ions of molybdenum(iv) which can produce insoluble complexes with metal cations are also known. Deposition precipitation (Section A.2.2.1.5) can be performed by injection of a solution of a soluble cyanide complex of one of the desired metals into a suspension of a suitable support in a solution of a simple salt of the other desired metal. By adjusting the cation composition of the simple salt solution, with a same cyanide, it is possible to adjust the composition of the precursor from a monometallic oxide (the case when the metallic cation is identical to that contained in the complex) to oxides containing one or several foreign elements. 

Because of the excellent catalytic performance of the ceria-based C03O4 and CuO catalysts, a combination of the two systems was investigated by preparing, through co-precipitation, mixed Cu-Co-Ce-O oxides with different compositions. The mixed oxides had a larger surface area with respect to the Co-Ce-O and Cu-Ce-O composite oxides. Moreover, the addition of cobalt to the Cu-Ce-O catalyst enhanced thermal stability because the particle size was unchanged on calcination at 850 °C. According to the H2-TPR patterns, the peaks due to cobalt oxide reduction and those for copper oxide reduction were reciprocally affected and shifted towards lower temperatures. The interaction between cobalt and... 

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