Effects of Ce Addition on Fe–Cu Catalyst for Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis

Ce-promoted Fe–Cu catalysts were prepared by co-precipitation method. The catalysts were characterized by N 2 physisorption, XRD, CO-TPD, H 2 -TPD, XPS and MES. The results show that the addition of cerium leads to a higher specific area of catalysts but against the adsorption of H 2 . Moreover, the CO adsorption and carbonization of the catalyst is enhanced with a proper addition of cerium, which is conducive to the formation of iron carbides. The reaction performance experiments indicate that the catalyst with 2 mol% Ce content is with the highest FTS activity of 97.2% CO conversion and light olefins selectivity of 17.2%. Graphical Abstract