Hosted by: Ignace Jarrige

Light olefins production utilizes the energy intensive process of steam cracking. Fischer-Tropsch to olefins (FTO) synthesis potentially offers a more sustainable alternative. Here we show a promising FTO catalyst comprised of iron oxide nanoparticles supported on carbon nanosheets (CNS) fabricated from the carbonization of potassium citrate, which incorporates well dispersed K-promoter throughout the CNS support. This catalyst exhibits, to the best of our knowledge, the highest iron time yield of 1790–1990 μmolCO/gFe•s reported in the literature, 41% light olefins selectivity, and over 100 hours stable activity, making it one of the best performing FTO catalysts. Detailed characterization, including synchrotron X-ray spectroscopy, illustrates that the CNS support facilitates iron oxide reduction to metallic iron, leading to efficient transformation to the active iron carbide phase during FTO reaction. Since K is a commonly used promoter, our K-promoted CNS support potentially has broad utility beyond the FTO reactions demonstrated in the current study.