A Hydrophilic Supported Fe 3 O 4 Catalyst with Enhanced Light Olefins Selectivity in the Fischer‐Tropsch Synthesis

A series of Fe 3 O 4 catalysts supported on chitosan (CTS) were prepared through successive hydrothermal synthesis, cross‐linking, and mechanical mixing of CTS. The prepared catalysts were characterized by SEM, XRD, N 2 adsorption‐desorption, XPS, FT−IR, TG, H 2 −TPR, CO−TPD, C 3 H 6 −TPD, and contact angle (CA) analysis, then evaluated for their performance in the Fischer‐Tropsch synthesis (FTS). CTS supported Fe 3 O 4 catalyst increased the hydrophilicity of the pristine un‐supported Fe 3 O 4 . Results revealed that the catalysts exhibit high activity with tuned product distribution in FTS. The water gas shift reaction is facilitated over the Fe 3 O 4 /CTS catalysts, and their selectivity for light olefins is significantly improved by inhibiting the secondary reaction of the initial olefins, which was confirmed by C 3 H 6 −TPD experiments. The Fe 3 O 4 particle size has a significant influence on product distribution, with larger Fe 3 O 4 particles being beneficial to the formation of light olefins. The 30 % Fe 3 O 4 /CTS catalyst has light olefin selectivity of 35 % with an O/P value of 2.19, which are higher than those of 21 % and 0.62 over the pristine Fe 3 O 4 .