Peculiarities of transition metals dispersed on oxide support in catalysis phenomena. Example of model Co foil catalyst Original Research Article

Industrial catalysts are complex metal and metal oxide systems of poor-defined structure. The paper presents an approach to study and design these materials using well-characterised model materials—cobalt foil catalyst as an example. An active Co-foil catalyst shows reproducible properties and has a sandwich-like structure consisting of CoO layer attached to Co bulk, on which highly dispersed Co phase is located. This phase contains active centres for hydrogenation reactions in form of cobalt clusters. To obtain such a catalyst a special procedure of activation has been developed based on high-temperature reduction/oxidation and reduction at mild temperatures. Various complementary surface techniques have been engaged to study evolution of surface phases of the catalyst at various stages of its activation and work during catalytic reactions.