Investigation of Syngas Interaction in Alcohol Synthesis Catalysts

This report presents the work done on Investigation of Syngas Interaction in Alcohol Synthesis Catalysts during the last quarter. FTIR absorption studies on Cu/Co/Cr catalysts using CO as a probe molecule are presented in this report. The aim of this study is to investigate the nature of infrared adsorption of CO on copper-cobalt-chromia catalysts. The chemisorption of CO on metal particles can be associative/dissociative depending upon the nature of the metal, the type of exposed faces and adsorption temperature. Several investigators [1-3], classified cobalt as a border line element which under particular conditions can dissociate CO. For instance the (0001) face of CO is known to be inactive for CO dissociation at room temperature, while the stepped (1012) face is active at very moderate temperatures [4-5] with formation of surface carbide. Of the dissociated species carbon could form a surface carbide and simultaneously the oxygen could form a surface oxide