Microstructure of FTS studies over spherical Co/γ-Al2O3

•The hydrogen calcined catalyst has the higher dispersed nano particles over γ-Al2O3 due to the direct reduction of precursors.•The hydrogen calcined Co/γ-Al2O3 preferentially formed the metallic cobalt of hcp structure.•The activity is affected by the microstructure and the reducibility of cobalt.

Cobalt supported alumina catalysts were prepared by slurry impregnation method and calcined the catalysts in different atmosphere. The prepared catalysts were characterized by N2 physisorption, TPR, XRD, TEM, FT-IR and XPS techniques. The catalyst calcined under hydrogen atmosphere leads to the metallic cobalt of HCP structure and shows the good catalytic activity for Fischer–Tropsch synthesis under the reaction condition.The catalyst calcined under air atmosphere led to the metallic cobalt of FCC structures and shows lower catalytic activity. It was also found that calcination atmosphere and structure of the catalyst have profound effect on the activity and selectivity for Fischer Tropsch synthesis.

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