Characterization of Fe/C catalysts supported on Al₂O ₃, SiO₂ and TiO₂

Structural and magnetic properties of Fe/C catalysts synthesized by ball milling and deposited onto Al₂O₃, SiO₂ and TiO₂ supports are reported. Ball milling α-Fe and C in the presence of these supports produced peculiar solid solutions in which antiferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic iron phases doped with Al, Si and Ti coexist. Mössbauer spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction data show no evidence of any Fe_xC phase. Instead, oxidation took place even though carbon (graphite) was present. All the catalysts were found to exhibit strong metal-support interactions, with the strongest interactions found in the TiO₂ supported catalyst.