Preparation of mesoporous nanocrystalline CuO–ZnO–Al2O3 catalysts for the H2 purification using catalytic preferential oxidation of CO (CO-PROX)

Abstract

In this article, CuO–ZnO–Al2O3 catalysts with various copper contents were synthesized by a co-precipitation method and employed for the elimination of carbon monoxide from a mixture of 97% H2, 1% CO and 2% O2 at atmospheric pressure via carbon monoxide preferential oxidation (CO-PROX). The influence of the copper and zinc contents on the physicochemical characteristics and catalytic performance was investigated. The prepared samples were characterized using the N2 adsorption-desorption (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission and scanning electron microscopy (TEM and SEM) and temperature programmed reduction (TPR) techniques. The increment in CuO loading improved the activity of CuO–ZnO–Al2O3 catalysts for CO oxidation reaction. Among the prepared catalysts, the 50%CuO-3% ZnO-47% Al2O3 catalyst calcined at 400 °C with a BET area of 82.3 m2/g exhibited the best activity with a CO conversion of 88.9% at 125 °C. The effects of the presence of CO2 and H2O in the reaction feed stream and gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) were also studied.