Mesoporous copper–cerium–oxygen hybrid nanostructures for low temperature catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide

Abstract

Mesoporous copper–cerium–oxygen hybrid nanostructures were prepared by one-pot cetyltrimethylammonium bromide surfactant-assisted method, and were characterized by thermogravimetry, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption–desorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and temperature-programmed reduction techniques. Low temperature carbon monoxide oxidation was used as probe reaction to investigate the application of the prepared mesoporous copper–cerium–oxygen hybrid nanostructures in catalysis. The product calcined at 400 °C, with disordered wormlike mesoporous structure, high specific surface area (SSA) of 117.4 m2/g and small catalyst particle size of 8.3 nm, shows high catalytic activity with the 100 % CO conversion at 110 °C, indicating its potential application in catalysis. Catalytic activity results from the samples calcinied at different temperature suggested that high SSA, small catalyst particle size, finely dispersed CuO species and synergistic effect between CuO and CeO2 were responsible for the high catalytic activity of the catalysts.