Novel Fe/MnK‐CNTs nanocomposites as catalysts for direct production of lower olefins from syngas

Novel Fe/MnK‐CNTs nanocomposites are developed as catalysts for direct production of lower olefins from syngas, delivering a high iron time yield of 337.2 μmolCO· ·s−1 with 51.3%C selectivity toward C2C4 olefins under the optimal reaction conditions (270°C, 2.0 MPa, 30,000 mL h−1 ). These catalysts are optimized by varying calcination temperature from 150 to 400°C. Multiple techniques including transmission electron microscopy, Elemental mapping, X‐ray diffraction, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, H2‐temperature‐programmed reduction, and Raman were employed to reveal the relationship between the catalyst nature and unique catalytic behavior. In particular, the resultant catalyst from the calcination temperature of 220°C exhibits the highest selectivity of C2C4 olefins as well as good stability, which are enabled by the trade‐off among the effects of iron particle sizes, promoters, metal‐support interaction and support surface chemistry. Moreover, influences of reaction temperature, reaction pressure and space velocity are also investigated. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 154–161, 2017