The catalytic activity of KMoCo carbon spheres for higher alcohols synthesis from syngas

摘要

Catalytic conversion of syngas to higher carbon number alcohols remains challenging till date owing to poor alcohols selectivity and limited understanding of catalytic active sites. In this study, we report bimetallic molybdenum-cobalt carbon spheres produced via in-situ hydrothermal reduction mediated by monosaccharides (glucose). The addition of potassium promoter (K/Mo = 0.14) during hydrothermal synthesis increased the concentration of high-valence molybdenum (MoO2) and selectivity towards higher alcohols (28 %). The field emission-SEM and HR-TEM images revealed a spherical morphology, embedding nanocrystalline MoCo oxides. The resulting carbon spheres enabled C2+ alcohols synthesis under mild operating conditions (270 degrees C, 30 bar, and 3000 h(-1)).