Operando XPS and SXRD study of the Fischer-Tropsch reaction on flat and stepped Co at up to around 1 bar

• The Fischer-Tropsch catalytic reaction on Co has still several unknows regarding the surface chemical state of the catalyst and presence of various adsorbed intermediates appearing under operando conditions. Here, we report an operando X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study of the flat Co(0001) and stepped Co(10-14) model catalyst surfaces during Fischer-Tropsch synthesis conditions at 150 mbar – 975 mbar pressure and 406 K – 548 K temperature in a H2/CO gas mixture using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy as well surface X-ray diffraction. We observe that the Co surface remains metallic at all conditions with only adsorbed species. There are a number of different intermediates on the surface such as adsorbed CO in only on-top position, C/-CH intermediates, -CH2- species and various longer hydrocarbon molecules. The coverage of the hydrocarbon species decreases with increasing temperature but increase strongly with pressure. The stepped surface shows a significant increase in adsorbed hydrocarbon species which is a clear indication of higher reactivity. There is no observation of any CHO or CH2O species indicating a direct CO dissociation pathway and that to our observation only hydrocarbon species participate in the chain growth. The relative high coverage of CO that is almost constant for the various conditions points to that CO dissociation is one of the rate-limiting steps. The rapid increase in the coverage of hydrocarbon species at high pressure conditions and on the stepped surface further indicates that the final hydrogen induced termination step is also rate-limiting. By following the time dependence of the C 1s region with rapid change in the flow of reactants, we demonstrate that the surface species are highly dynamic resulting in delays in reaching steady-state conditions. 

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Fysikalisk kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Physical Chemistry (hsv//eng)

Keyword

kemisk fysik

Chemical Physics

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

ovr (subject category)