Effects of Ru nanoparticle sizes confined in cavities of SBA-16 on the catalytic performance of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction

Ru nanoparticles with different sizes confined in the cavities of mesoporous SBA-16 have been successfully synthesized by incipient wetness impregnation method with a Ru loading of 4 wt%. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, N2 adsorption-desorption, H2-TPR, H2-TPD, O2-titration and TEM. The catalytic performance of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis over the catalyst was tested in a fixed-bed reactor. The addition of citric acid in the impregnation procedure shows a significant influence on the size of Ru nanoparticles. The selectivity to C5+ increases, while the selectivities to methane and C2–C4 light hydrocarbons decrease with Ru average particles size from 2.0 nm to 9.3 nm,. The Ru catalyst confined in the SBA-16 with average nanoparticle size of 5.3 nm gives the best activity.