Selective laser melting porous metal substrate to prepare high loading catalysts for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Due to high thermal conductivity and excellent design flexibility, selective laser melting (SLM) metal substrate structured catalysts are widely used to enhance heat transfer in highly exothermic and endothermic reactions. However, the systematic investigation of porosity effects in SLM-processed substrates on active component distribution and catalytic performance has not been conducted. Therefore, we conducted a comparative study of structured catalysts using dense rolling FeCrAl and porous SLM AlSiMg substrates. SLM AlSiMg substrate displayed abundant micro-nano-scale pores after corrosion, and its pore area was 196 times larger than FeCrAl. The porous AlSiMg substrate modified the Co distribution and improved the dispersion in the coating, exhibiting a smaller particle size (15 nm) compared to FeCrAl (21 nm). Moreover, a fraction of Co was loaded on the porous substrate and exhibited catalytic activity, showing 20 % CO conversion and 96 % C 5+ selectivity at 230 °C and 4000 h −1 . Consequently, the optimal Co-loading of the AlSiMg substrate catalyst was higher than the FeCrAl substrate, which increased the maximum C 5+ yield by 126 %. These results confirm that porous metal substrates effectively improve catalyst activity, facilitating the application of SLM technology in catalyst development. • A structured catalyst metal substrate with a hierarchical pore structure is proposed. • The catalyst with novel substrate improves the Co-loading from 30 wt% to 60 wt%. • Structured catalyst with porous metal substrate increased C 5+ yield by 126 %.