Silicon carbide containing cobalt (30 wt.%) doped with 0.1 wt.% of ruthenium catalysts prepared by incipient wetness impregnation of cobalt nitrate with either ethanol or water were tested in the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) in a fixed-bed configuration. The catalyst prepared with ethanol exhibits a higher FTS performance compared to the one prepared with water and especially at high reaction temperature, i.e. 230 degrees C. The FTS performance of the cobalt-based catalyst impregnated with ethanol further increases, under high temperature and high space velocity, to reach a steady state reaction rate of 0.54 g(CH2) g(catalyst)(-1)h(-1), and a relatively high C5+ selectivity of about 90%. In addition, the catalyst also exhibits a relatively high stability as a function of time on stream. Co-59 zero field NMR analysis has indicates that the proportion of cobalt atoms engaged in the small hcp cobalt particles (<8 nm) was higher for the ethanol impregnated catalyst and also to the more homogeneous dispersion of the ruthenium atoms within the cobalt network forming an alloy. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.