H-spillover in Pt promoted Co FT catalyst studied with mixture of Pt/Al<sub>2sub>O<sub>3sub> + Co/Al<sub>2sub>O<sub>3sub>.
Pt improves Co reduction despite physical separation of Pt from Co via spillover.
TPR, TGA, XRD and XPS show that Co<sub>3sub>O<sub>4sub> reduces via formation of a CoO intermediate.
Pt has slight effect on Co<sub>3sub>O<sub>4sub> → CoO reduction but greatly improves CoO → Co<sup>0sup> reduction.
During FT, spillover results in more CH<sub>4sub> and higher TOF due to cleansing effect of H.