Enhancement of C5+ selectivity in photothermal Fischer–Tropsch synthesis by an inorganic heteropoly acid catalyst promotor

Photothermal catalytic Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) enhances the catalytic efficiency of thermal-driven FTS reaction using a mild strategy, which is in line with the future trends in the chemical industry. However, constructing catalytic systems with high C5+ product selectivity is a challenge for photothermal FTS, since the hydrocracking reaction involving photogenerated electrons would decrease the long carbon chain product selectivity. In this work, the C5+ product selectivity of FTS was significantly improved from 65% to 93% under photothermal conditions by using heteropoly acid (H3PW12O40) as a catalyst promotor. Further characterization revealed that the enhancement mechanism of the C5+ product selectivity was that the as-designed Co/T-PW catalyst inhibited the hydrocracking reaction involving photoelectrons, promoted carbon chain growth, and directly participated in the cracking of C20+ products. This work provided a simple and efficient strategy to improve the C5+ product selectivity of photothermal FTS, making the photothermal FTS reaction more attractive.