EFFECT OF PARTICLE-SIZE ON CO HYDROGENATION ACTIVITY OF SILICA SUPPORTED COBALT CATALYSTS

Two series of silica supported cobalt catalysts were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation, one by varying the calcination temperature (200-400°C, 3 wt % Co) and the other by changing the cobalt loading (1-10 wt % Co). Examination by ESCA, XRD, and H2 chemisorption showed that Co3O4 is the dominant phase. The cobalt phase is reduced to cobalt metal at 400 °C. The cobalt particle sizes obtained from ESCA correlated well with those derived from H2 chemisorption and XRD line broadening. The turnover frequency of Co/SiO2 for CO hydrogenation was invariant with cobalt dispersion in the range of 6-20% dispersion. © 1990 American Chemical Society.