US 7,569,513 B2
Nickel and cobalt plated sponge catalysts
Stephen Raymond Schmidt, Silver Spring, Md. (US)
Assigned to W. R. Grace & Co.-Conn., Columbia, Md. (US)
Filed on Apr. 21, 2008, as Appl. No. 12/148,622.
Prior Publication US 2008/0194401 A1, Aug. 14, 2008
Int. Cl. B01J 23/00 (2006.01); B01J 21/00 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 502—326  [502/259; 502/260; 502/313; 502/314; 502/315; 502/316; 502/335; 502/337; 502/439; 502/527.24] 35 Claims
 
1. A method of preparing a nickel and/or cobalt plated sponge catalyst comprising
(a) preparing an aqueous slurry containing a sponge support having surface area;
(b) adding to the aqueous slurry a salt of a metal selected from the group consisting of nickel, cobalt and mixture thereof, in an amount sufficient to deposit a catalytically effective amount of the metal on at least a portion of the surface area of the sponge support and to form a plating slurry containing ions of metal;
(c) adding a reducing agent to the plating slurry in an amount sufficient to reduce the metal ions in the slurry to the corresponding metal;
(d) adjusting the pH and temperature of the plating slurry in a manner sufficient to deposit the metal on the surface of the support and form a metal coated sponge catalyst; and,
(e) removing the catalyst from the plating slurry.