Characterisation of Gold Catalysts Supported on Titanium Nitride and Oxynitride

Abstract

Catalysts, comprising gold supported on titanium nitride and oxynitride, have been prepared by deposition-precipitation from HAuCl 4 .3H 2 O. For the synthesis conditions used, no loss of the nitrogen content or specific surface area of the supports was detected. Metallic Au is homogeneously dispersed on the surface of TiN samples, with particle sizes ranging from 3nm to 1 μm. However, for TiON samples, where TiN and TiO 2 phases coexist, the Au agglomerates forming large particles (>10 μm) and nanometric gold is only detected in association with the more basic TiN phase.