Interfacial Fe5C2-Cu catalysts toward low-pressure syngas conversion to long-chain alcohols

Abstract Long-chain alcohols synthesis (LAS, C 5+ OH) from syngas provides a promising route for the conversion of coal/biomass/natural gas into high-value chemicals. Cu-Fe binary catalysts, with the merits of cost effectiveness and high CO conversion, have attracted considerable attention. Here we report a nano-construct of a Fe 5 C 2 -Cu interfacial catalyst derived from Cu 4 Fe 1 Mg 4 -layered double hydroxide (Cu 4 Fe 1 Mg 4 -LDH) precursor, i.e ., Fe 5 C 2 clusters (~2 nm) are immobilized onto the surface of Cu nanoparticles (~25 nm). The interfacial catalyst exhibits a CO conversion of 53.2%, a selectivity of 14.8 mol% and a space time yield of 0.101 g g cat −1 h −1 for long-chain alcohols, with a surprisingly benign reaction pressure of 1 MPa. This catalytic performance, to the best of our knowledge, is comparable to the optimal level of Cu-Fe catalysts operated at much higher pressure (normally above 3 MPa).