Hierarchical laminated Al2O3 in-situ integrated with high-dispersed Co3O4 for improved toluene catalytic combustion

Abstract

Hierarchical structure and surface properties of selective support afford some special effects on the catalytic activity, which could be tuned to achieve improved performance. Herein, using a combination of hydrothermal coprecipitation and thermal processing, we integrated highly-distributed Co3O4 spinel nanospecies on laminated hierarchically structured Al2O3 which could be used as a highly efficient VOCs treatment catalyst. Impressively, compared to Co-free Al2O3 counterpart (SBET = 188.2 m2·g−1), these obtained Co3O4 spinel functionalized catalysts are endowed with adjustable Co loading, optimized Co activity state, and obviously improved hierarchically structural properties (SBET = 274.7 m2·g−1). The microporous and mesoporous structures both existed in the obtained Al2O3, which is beneficial to the heterogeneous catalytic reaction process. The results reveal that the proper Co loading in the hierarchically structured Al2O3 could enable the rational modulation of catalytic activity in the combustion of toluene and exceeds the commercial 5 wt% Pd/C catalyst in the light of total catalytic oxidation ability. This developed heterogeneous Co3O4 compositing hierarchically structured Al2O3 provides a significant potential value for practical VOCs treatment.