Synthesis and characterization of Fe-Co/mesoHZSM-5: Effect of desilication agent and iron-cobalt composition

Synthesis of Fe-Co/meso-HZSM5 catalyst, intended to be applied in Fischer-Tropsch (FT) reaction was investigated. The study emphasized the effect of desilication agents, NaOH and KOH, on the catalyst materials properties. Impregnation composition of active metal (Fe and Co) was also examined. HZSM-5, converted from ammonium ZSM-5 through calcination, was treated with NaOH and KOH for desilication, followed by impregnation with 10% metal loading. Fe composition in the initial mixture was varied at 10-50% from total composition. After impregnation, reduction was applied by flowing hydrogen gas at 400°C for 10 hours. The use of KOH solution induced greater mesoporous volumes; however, it had a detrimental effect on zeolite crystal structure. NaOH solutions, on the other hand, increased mesopore area as high as 100%, indicated from surface area increase from 266.28 m²/g of HZSM-5, to 526.03 m²/g of NaOH-desilicated HZSM-5. In addition, the application of NaOH solution increased pore volume from 0.14 cc/g to 0.486 cc/g. Further, more Fe-Co alloys and less oxide of iron (Fe₂O₃) as well cobalt (Co₃O₄) had been commonly observed in the produced catalysts. The largest Fe-Co alloys could be found in 50Fe-50Co/HZSM-5.