Noble metal free catalyst with High activity and stability for catalytic wet air oxidation of N, N-dimethylformamide

Abstract

In this study, we propose a simple strategy to prepare a noble-metal free catalyst, i.e., CeO2 supported on multi-wall carbon nanotube (CNTs). CNTs are treated by acid before the loading of CeO2, which is vital to the performance of catalysts. CeO2 on treated CNTs (CNTs-M) presents much higher TOC conversion and stability when compared with CeO2 on raw CNTs (CNTs-Raw). Kinetic study indicates that acid treatment greatly decreases the activation of the DMF oxidation. To investigate these phenomena, detailed characterizations are performed. We found that the acid treatment generated surface functional groups on CNTs which leads to the strong interaction between CNTs and CeO2. As a result, CeO2 on CNTs-M obtained better dispersion and higher amount of surface oxygen, which accounts for its superior performance.