Preparation of gold clusters on metal oxides by deposition-precipitation with microwave drying and their catalytic performance for CO and sulfide oxidation

Abstract

Gold clusters and small nanoparticles supported on metal oxides could be prepared by deposition-precipitation followed by microwave irradiation as a drying method and then calcination. The drying method influenced the size of the Au particles. Au(III) was partly reduced during conventional oven drying, resulting in Au aggregates. In contrast, Au(III) was preserved during microwave drying owing to rapid and uniform heating, and the Au diameter was minimized to 1.4 nm on Al2O3. This method can be applied to several metal oxide supports having different microwave absorption efficiencies, such as MnO2, Al2O3, and TiO2. These catalysts exhibited higher catalytic activities for CO oxidation at low temperature and for selective aerobic oxidation of sulfide than those prepared by conventional methods.