Investigation of syngas interactions in alcohol synthesis catalyst

The primary objectives of the project are to (a) synthesize, by controlled sequential and co-impregnation techniques, three distinct composition metal clusters (consisting of Cu-Co-Cr and Cu-Fe-Zn): rich in copper (Methanol selective), rich in ferromagnetic metal (Co or Fe-Hydrocarbon selective) and intermediate range (mixed alcohol catalysts); (b) investigate the changes in the magnetic character of the systems due to interaction with CO, through Zero-field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (ZFNMR) study of cobalt and Magnetic character (saturation magnetization and coercive field) analysis of the composite catalyst of Vibrating Sample Magnetometry (VSM); (c) examine the changes in syngas adsorption character of the catalyst as the composition changes, by FTIR Spectroscopic analysis of CO stretching frequencies; (d) determine the nature and size of these intermetallic clusters by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM); and (e) perform catalytic runs on selected samples and analyze the correlations between the physical and chemical characteristics. The catalysts chosen have a greater promise for industrial application than the Rh and Mo based catalysts. Several groups preparing catalysts by synthetic routes have reported divergent results for activity and selectivity. Generally the research has followed an empirical path and less effort is devoted to analyze the mechanisms and the scientific basis. The primary intent of this study is to analyze the nature of the intermetallic and gas-metal interactions and examine the correlations to catalytic properties