Effect of Drying Temperature on Iron Fischer-Tropsch Catalysts Prepared by Solvent Deficient Precipitation

Scheme 1

Pore formation process during drying and calcination. The iron oxide particles (red) are pictured to form a layer around the ammonium nitrate (blue) in the tetragonal phase, which is disrupted during the drying process at appropriate temperatures as it transforms to the cubic phase. Then, during calcination, the ammonium nitrate melts and decomposes, thus leaving the iron oxide frozen in a disrupted structure that has a higher volume pore structure that leads to better catalytic performance.