Co3O4 and Mn3O4 Nanoparticles Dispersed on SBA-15: Efficient Catalysts for Methane Combustion

Abstract

Co3O4 and Mn3O4 nanoparticles were successfully impregnated on SBA-15 mesoporous silica. A high dispersion of these metal oxide particles was achieved while using a “two-solvents” procedure, allowing a proper control of the metal oxides loading (7 wt%) and size (10–12 nm). These Co3O4 and Mn3O4 supported oxides on SBA-15 were characterised by means of XRD, BET and TEM techniques. The influence of the nature of the silica support was investigated in terms of porosity and specific surface area. Since, an improved catalytic activity was achieved over SBA-15 mesoporous silica; it appears that its organised porous meso-structure creates a confinement medium which permits a high dispersion of metal oxide nanoparticles. Supported Co3O4/SBA-15 (7 wt%) showed the highest catalytic performance in the combustion of methane under lower explosive limit conditions, comparable to perovskites. These materials become therefore novel efficient combustion catalysts at low metal loading.