Incorporation of Co in Different Stages of the Synthesis of Al-PILC and Its Effect as a Fischer–Tropsch Catalyst

Abstract

Different strategies for incorporating cobalt during the synthesis of an Al-pillared clay material were studied to obtain Co-catalysts to be used as a catalyst in the Fischer–Tropsch reaction to produce synthetic fuels. The catalytic materials were characterized employing N2 adsorption–desorption at 77 K, X-ray diffraction, atomic absorption spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, temperature-programmed reduction, and Raman spectroscopy. The catalytic activity of the materials for Fischer–Tropsch synthesis was evaluated at a fixed-bed, laboratory-scale microreactor at 2.0 MPa, and the correlations between the method of synthesis, the properties of the materials, and their catalytic behavior were established.