The size-dependent site composition of FCC cobalt nanocrystals

Abstract

Cobalt-based Fischer–Tropsch (FT) catalysts typically contain reactive cobalt metal nanoparticles on support materials. Such metal nanoparticles are expected to have properties that are strongly size-dependent. Noting the size-dependence of the Co FT rate for particle diameters below 10nm, we aimed to see whether the FCC Co nanoparticle site composition exhibits a corresponding size-dependence. This aim was realised by: building and optimising realistic and representative close-packed Co nanoparticle models at various sizes; defining, identifying and counting the exposed surface sites; generalising these findings based on the small subset of simulated nanocrystal models. Using this approach, the site composition of five defined sites with increasing size up to 8nm was obtained. The three defined defect/step sites increased in concentration with increasing size, with the B5-A site and the B6 site reaching a stable value at about 4nm, while the B5-B site still increased somewhat even at 8nm. This confirms the size-dependent change in the surface site composition for FCC Co nanocrystals. The shape and site composition ranges were also compared to previously calculated Wulff shapes and showed good agreement. Implications of the size-dependent FCC Co site composition on the FT catalysis process are also discussed.