Plasma-assisted preparation of Fe–Cu bimetal catalyst for higher alcohols synthesis from carbon monoxide hydrogenation

Plasma-assisted Fe–Cu/SiO2 catalysts were prepared by impregnation technique and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption and desorption isotherms, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR) techniques. Catalytic performances for carbon monoxide hydrogenation to higher alcohols were carried out in a fixed-bed reactor at the conditions of T = 300 °C, P = 5 MPa, H2/CO = 2, GHSV = 6000 ml/gcat h. Plasma-promoted Fe–Cu bimetal catalyst (FeCuSi-PC) possessed much better catalytic performances than those of conventional sample in the selective hydrogenation of carbon monoxide. XRD and XPS analysis suggested that the plasma assistance in the catalyst preparation remarkably diminished the particle size, improved the catalyst dispersion, and issued an exposure of more copper and iron species on the catalyst surface. The mechanism of plasma on catalyst crystallize size was also discussed.