Abstract:
To study the characteristics of silica support and zirconia-silca composite supports that were prepared by deposition of zirconia particles on the silica support surface using hydrolysis of zirconium propoxide with various amounts of zirconia and calcined temperatures. Furthermore, this research studied the characteristics, activity and selectivity of cobalt catalyst on silica support and zirconia-silca composite supports by using carbon dioxide hydrogenation as activity indicator. All supports and catalysts were studied by different techniques such as X-ray diffraction, N₂ physisorption, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, temperature programmed reduction analysis and thermal gravimetric analysis. From the experiment, zirconia is dispersed on the silica support. The high calcined temperature of composite supports result in sintering effect. Reduction of cobalt catalyst on zirconia-silca composite supports was easier than cobalt catalyst on silica support. From the carbon dioxide hydrogenation reaction experiment at 220℃, cobalt catalyst on zirconia-silca composite support CoZrSSP800 (1:1) showed the highest conversion at 52.61% while cobalt catalyst on zirconia-silca composite support CoZrSSP400 (1:3) showed the highest methane selectivity at 100%.