Ru1Con Single-Atom Alloy for Enhancing Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis

Abstract

Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) is a significant catalytic process for the production of liquid fuel and fine chemicals from natural gas-, coal-, and biomass-derived syngas. However, exploring high-performance catalysts and understanding the catalytic mechanism remain challenging. Herein, we design a Ru1Con single-atom alloy (SAA) catalyst with isolated Ru atoms anchored onto a Co nanoparticle surface through a two-dimensional confinement strategy to achieve greatly improved FTS activity (2.6 molCO molM–1 h–1) and long-chain hydrocarbon selectivity (C5+: 86.0%) at a low reaction temperature of 150 °C. A series of in situ experiments, catalytic tests, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the Ru single-atom sites in Ru1Con SAA are more active for the FTS reaction than pure Ru and Co surfaces. This is because single-atom Ru with a much higher electronic density near the Fermi level could effectively and simultaneously decrease the rate-limiting barriers of both C–O splitting and chain growth processes. This work demonstrates the possibility of designing Ru single-atom sites to improve FTS performance and provides a deeper understanding of the strategy for developing other high-performance industrial catalysts.