Fabrication of Highly Stable SiO2 Encapsulated Multiple CuFe Nanoparticles for Higher Alcohols Synthesis via CO Hydrogenation

Highly stable SiO2-coated multiple CuFe nanoparticles (CuFe@SiO2) were prepared by combining a facile thermal decomposition and the reverse microemulsion method. In the test of CO hydrogenation for higher alcohols synthesis (HAS), it was found that the prepared CuFe@SiO2 catalyst showed higher CO conversion, C2+OH selectivity and a superior stability than those of CuFe catalyst with time on stream. This could be related to the space confined effect of the core-shell structure that inhibited the sintering and phase separation of the Cu-chi-Fe5C2 phase, known as the dual active sites for alcohols formation, which inherently improved the catalytic performance of the sample. Furthermore, the correlation between the catalytic performance and the structural evolution was also discussed. The CuFe@SiO2 catalysts maintained the Cu-chi-Fe5C2 dual active sites without sintering and phase separation, and thus showed the higher and superior stable C2+OH selectivity. [GRAPHICS] .