Characterization of Fe/C catalysts supported on Al2O 3, SiO2 and TiO2

Abstract

Structural and magnetic properties of Fe/C catalysts synthesized by ball milling and deposited onto Al2O3, SiO2 and TiO2 supports are reported. Ball milling α-Fe and C in the presence of these supports produced peculiar solid solutions in which antiferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic iron phases doped with Al, Si and Ti coexist. Mössbauer spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction data show no evidence of any FexC phase. Instead, oxidation took place even though carbon (graphite) was present. All the catalysts were found to exhibit strong metal-support interactions, with the strongest interactions found in the TiO2 supported catalyst. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.