Structural aspects of activation and deactivation of cobalt catalysts in hydrogenation of carbon dioxide

Abstract

The hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to methane and other hydrocarbons is an interesting catalytic alternative to the Ftscher–Tropsch reaction. One of the metals known to be active for this process is cobalt. To get a better understanding of the catalytic process, it is of great interest to elucidate the microscopic processes taking place in the various catalytic steps. Included are structural and chemical changes of the catalyst surface, which most likely influence the overall catalytic performance or the activation and deactivation of the catalyst. Concerning the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide on cobalt, pioneering work by Amariglio et al . revealed interesting correlations between activation/deactivation behavior and oxidizing pretreatments of the catalysts. Intensive studies were also performed on CO hydrogenation on supported Co catalysts providing a comprehensive background for the understanding of CO 2 hydrogenation. However, resent results also showed that the catalytic behavior of supported or compact material reveals different aspects. Thus, based on the earlier work, this chapter focuses on a thorough investigation of the respective properties of the catalytic system of compact materials. To achieve extensive information, the experimental work includes a broad variety of methods performed by both groups in Erlangen and Krakow.