Abstract: Surface morphology, physical-chemical properties of skeletal iron catalysts prepared by leaching of the rapidly quenched(RQ) and naturally quenched(NQ) Fe-Al alloys with an aqueous solution of NaOH were characterized by using a series of techniques including XRD, BET, XPS, SEM, H₂ and CO-TPD.It was found that the RQ skeletal iron catalyst exhibits a smaller particle size, larger specific surface area and pore volume than the NQ one.The H₂ and CO-TPD experiments showed that the RQ skeletal iron exhibits stronger affinity for H₂ and milder affinity for CO compared with the NQ one.But the NQ skeletal catalyst shows a better thermal stability than the RQ catalyst.

Key words: Rapidly quenched alloy, Skeletal iron catalyst, Characterization