Effect of particle size on the performance of MoS2-K2O/CNTs nano catalyst in ethanol and higher alcohol synthesis from syngas

Up to 20wt% of Mo is added to the CNTs by impregnation method in order to study the particle size effect on catalyst performance. The ratio of Mo/K is fixed at 1.875. The performance of the catalysts was assessed in a micro-reactor at 330oC, 18 bars and H2/CO=2. Catalysts were characterized using different methods including TEM BET, XRD, TPR and H2 chemisorption. According to TPR results smaller particles produce Mo-k oxides which reduced in lower temperature. Increasing Mo particle sizes,based on TEM and H2-Chemisorption results, ethanol selectivity decreased from about 95% to 74% and methanol selectivity increased from 5% to 26%. These results could be attributed to particle size effect on catalytic performance.