CARBON NANOFIBERS - A UNIQUE CATALYST SUPPORT MEDIUM

When used as a catalyst support medium, graphitic carbon nanofibers ha ve been found to exert a dramatic effect on the performance of Fe-Cu ( 7:3) and Fe particles when such systems were heated in hydrocarbon env ironments. The catalytic activity of these systems, for the conversion of hydrocarbons, was considerably higher than that found when the Fe- containing particles were supported on either active carbon or gamma-a lumina and treated under the same conditions. TEM analysis indicated t hat this enhancement in activity could not be accounted for by a parti cle size effect. Other possible explanations for this unusual behavior are discussed.