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Co–Rh Nanoparticles for the Hydrogenation of Carbon Monoxide: Catalytic Performance Towards Alcohol Production and Ambient Pressure X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Study

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Abstract

5 nm Co–Rh bimetallic nanoparticles with narrow size distributions and three different atomic compositions (2, 10, and 16 % Rh) were synthesized using a colloidal method. The bimetallic nanoparticles were loaded into mesoporous silica support MCF-17 and utilized in the catalytic hydrogenation of CO (Fischer–Tropsch synthesis). As compared to the pure 5 nm Co/MCF-17 catalyst, the bimetallic Co–Rh catalysts showed a similar activity while enhancing the selectivity towards alcohols, as evidenced by an increased ratio of alcohol to hydrocarbon products. Furthermore, larger alcohols such as propanol were formed with the addition of Rh, which is not observed with the pure Co/MCF-17 catalyst. In situ synchrotron based Ambient Pressure X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy studies on the Co–Rh samples revealed that Rh is segregated to the surface of the nanoparticles under reaction conditions, which plays an important role in altering the selectivity towards alcohol production. An optimum surface Rh concentration exists at ~9 at.%, where a fivefold enhancement in the alcohol-to-hydrocarbon ratio was achieved.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Director, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, U.S. Department of Energy, under Contract DE-AC02-05CH11231, through the Chemical and Mechanical Properties of Surfaces, Interfaces and Nanostructures program (FWP KC3101). The AP-XPS measurements were conducted on beamline 9.3.2 at The Advanced Light Source, which is supported, by the Director, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy, under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Wen-Chi Liu, Gérôme Melaet, Walter T. Ralston, Selim Alayoglu, Yonatan Horowitz, Rong Ye, Tyler Hurlburt & Gabor A. Somorjai

  2. Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Wen-Chi Liu, Gérôme Melaet, Yonatan Horowitz, Rong Ye, Miquel Salmeron & Gabor A. Somorjai

  3. Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Walter T. Ralston, Selim Alayoglu & Tyler Hurlburt

  4. Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Baohua Mao & Ethan Crumlin

  5. State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200050, People’s Republic of China

    Baohua Mao

  6. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Miquel Salmeron

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  1. Wen-Chi Liu
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  2. Gérôme Melaet
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  11. Gabor A. Somorjai
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gabor A. Somorjai.

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Liu, WC., Melaet, G., Ralston, W.T. et al. Co–Rh Nanoparticles for the Hydrogenation of Carbon Monoxide: Catalytic Performance Towards Alcohol Production and Ambient Pressure X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Study. Catal Lett 146, 1574–1580 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-016-1782-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-016-1782-x

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