The use of preformed nanoparticles in the production of heterogeneous catalysts

•Preformed nanoparticles assembled onto support material as heterogeneous catalyst.•Iron oxide nanoparticles adhere well to both silica (MCM-41) and alumina (puralox).•The distribution of nanoparticles across the two supports is varied.•The alumina support is more suited to the multiple reduction steps in FT catalysis.

Preformed iron oxide nanoparticles have been successfully assembled onto alumina and MCM-41 support materials. The particles are found to disperse evenly over the surface of the silicate; however, in the case of the alumina we find that in addition to areas of even distribution there is also some clustering of the particles. The materials are stable under heat treatment, with no signs of further aggregation during calcination. We investigate the reducibility of the materials through H2-TPR studies and we find that the particles are reducible around 500–550 °C. The reduction process is complete at temperatures where MCM-41 can undergo degradation, supporting that the alumina based materials are more suited to the multiple base oxidation reduction steps in the catalytic cycle.

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