Study on Cu-Fe/CeO2 bimetallic catalyst for reverse water gas shift reaction

The Cu-Fe bimetallic catalyst loaded on CeO2 was studied for reverse water gas shift reaction (RWGS). The catalyst was characterized by Brunner–Emmet–Teller measurements (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature programmed oxidation (TPO) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Copper and iron were highly dispersed in the CeO2 carrier and formed Cu-Fe/CeO2 catalyst. The catalytic performance was evaluated in the temperature range of 450–750 °C at atmospheric pressure. Compared with the iron-free copper-based catalyst, the performance of the catalyst containing iron was significantly improved, and the carbon dioxide conversion almost reached theoretical conversion. It had good selectivity, stability and no side reactions occurred, also no carbon deposit was found on catalyst surface after reaction. When the content of copper in CeO2 exceeded 10%, copper atoms began to accumulate, which led to the decrease of catalyst performance. The highest conversion of CO2 reached 42% at 750 °C.