Pillared montmorillonite supported cobalt catalysts for the Fischer–Tropsch reaction

A series of pillared montmorillonite supported cobalt catalysts were synthesized by stepwise-impregnation and characterized via XRD, NH3-TPD, TPR, and BET techniques. The pillared montmorillonite supported cobalt catalysts kept the original two-dimensional layered structure of the pillared montmorillonite after calcination and the pillared montmorillonites were suitable supports for Fischer–Tropsch catalysts. As promoter, cerium adsorbed on the surface of the pillared montmorillonites was more active than cerium bound in the pillars. The sequence of the C5+ selectivity was CoRu/Al-PILM> CoCe/Al-PILM> Co/Al-PILM> Co/CeAl-PILM, which was in approximate agreement with the sequence of the probability of the larger pores, suggesting that the selectivity of the catalysts was closely related to the pore size distribution of the catalysts.