Methane Cracking over Cobalt Molybdenum Carbides

I Alshibane,S Laassiri,J S J Hargreaves,J L Rico

doi:10.1007/s10562-018-2378-4

Abstract

The catalytic behaviour of Co3Mo3C, Co6Mo6C, Co3Mo3N and Co6Mo6N for methane cracking has been studied to determine the relationship between the methane cracking activity and the chemical composition. The characterisation of post-reaction samples showed a complex phase composition with the presence of Co3Mo3C, α-Co and β-Mo2C as catalytic phases and the deposition of different forms of carbon during reaction.Graphical

Highlights

The design of novel and efficient materials for catalytic reactions is of major interest
The topotactic transformation pathways and pseudomorphic nature of the cobalt molybdenum carbide and nitride families evident in this study offers, in principle, an elegant route to study the effect of interstitial carbon/nitrogen on the catalytic activity of cobalt molybdenum materials for methane cracking
The activity of the material was found to stabilise around 1.8 mmol H 2 gcatalyst−1 min−1, which is high when compared against the activity of some other nitride systems (e.g. 180 μmol H2 gcatalyst−1 min reported for a silicon-vanadium nitride nanocomposite under directly comparable conditions) [29]

Summary

Introduction

The design of novel and efficient materials for catalytic reactions is of major interest. Examples of the materials investigated include carbides, nitrides and boron alloys [1,2,3] Amongst these materials, carbides have arguably received the most attention due to the perceived analogies between their behaviour and that of precious metals, suggesting them to be potential replacements. Carbides have arguably received the most attention due to the perceived analogies between their behaviour and that of precious metals, suggesting them to be potential replacements In this context, the presence of interstitial carbon species has been argued to modify the electronic properties of the parent metal in systems such as those based upon molybdenum or tungsten, making them akin to precious metals such as platinum [4, 5].

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Discussion

Conclusion