Redispersion of cobalt particles supported on titanium dioxide

The particle size of cobalt in a Co/TiO sub 2 catalyst increased with increasing reduction temperature up to 600 deg C. At 700 deg C, where the phase transformation of TiO sub 2 from anatase to rutile occurred, the cobalt particles redispersed to individual crystallites. This redispersion has been confirmed by measuring the specific activity of the cobalt catalyst for the hydrogenation of propene. The relation between the phase transformation of TiO sub 2 and the redispersion of cobalt has been studied kinetically using high-temperature X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. 12 ref.--AA