Abstract

GUERRERO FAJARDO, Carlos Alberto  and  SANCHEZ CASTELLANOS, Francisco José. Synthesising Fe-Mo catalysts supported on silica for the selective oxidation of methane to formaldehyde. Ing. Investig. [online]. 2009, vol.29, n.1, pp.53-59. ISSN 0120-5609.

The selective oxidation of methane to formaldehyde was analysed using iron-molybdenum catalysts supported on silica prepared by the sol-gel method which leads to obtaining a greater surface area and high iron and molybdenum metal dispersion on the silica’s amorphous surface. Seven catalysts were prepared, one of them as silica support, another as 0.5% wt iron load without molybdenum and the remaining five having 0.1%-1.0% weight molybdenum and 0.5% wt iron loads. The highest BET areas were 830 and 879 m².g^-1 for catalysts 2 (0.5% Fe - 0% Mo) and 4 (0.5% Fe - 0.3% Mo) respectively, having 28% average microporosity and 47% average mesoporosity. X-ray diffraction confirmed the catalysts’ amorphous structure. The TPR spectrum showed low hydrogen consumption attributed to the absence of isolated Fe and Mo species. ESCA analysis revealed the same Fe/Mo atomic ratio on the catalyst surface as in the bulk preparation. Catalytic activity was carried out at atmospheric pressure, CH₄/ O₂/N₂ = 7.5/1/4 reaction mixture, 400-800°C temperature interval. Catalysts 4 (0.5% Fe - 0.3% Mo), 5 (0.5% Fe - 0.5% Mo) and 7 (0.5% Fe - 1.0% Mo) displayed greater methane conversion, whereas catalysts 5 (0.5% Fe - 0.5% Mo), 4 (0.5% Fe - 0.3% Mo), 2 (0.5% Fe - 0% Mo) and 7 (0.5% Fe - 1.0% Mo) gave better formaldehyde product results. The highest conversion per-centage (4.07% mol) was presented at 700°C for catalyst 4 (0.5% Fe-0.3% Mo). Formaldehyde yield was 202,0 g_HCHO.kg^-1_cata.h^-1 at this temperature.

Keywords : Fe-Mo/SiO₂ catalysts; formaldehyde; selective oxidation; sol-gel.

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