CO–PROX reactions on copper Y2O3-ZrO2 catalysts prepared by a single step co-precipitation technique

Abstract

Nano-sized CuYZr ternary oxides obtained through an original single step co-precipitation synthesis were submitted to an in depth characterization and further tested in the catalytic CO PROX reaction. The tetragonal phase was identified as the main one whatever the calcination temperature. The study of the copper distribution within the crystals through complementary STEM EDX chemical mapping, UV–vis and H2 Thermo Programmed Reduction (TPR) analysis allowed the identification of at least three distinct sites. The PROX tests revealed interesting properties with CO conversion as high as 95 % and relatively high O2 selectivity towards CO2 in the high temperature range. Finally, interesting relationships between relative abundance of copper sites and catalytic activity/selectivity were obtained allowing suggesting relevant active sites.