PtxCo/meso-MnOy: Highly efficient catalysts for low-temperature methanol combustion

Abstract

The KIT-6-templating and polyvinyl alcohol-protected NaBH4 reduction methods were adopted to prepare the mesoporous manganese oxide (meso-MnOy) and its supported Co, Pt, and PtxCo catalysts, respectively. Numerous techniques were used to characterize the physicochemical properties of the materials. Catalytic performance of the samples was evaluated for methanol combustion. All of the samples possessed a three-dimensionally ordered mesoporous structure and a surface area of 94–110 m2/g. The Co, Pt, and PtxCo nanoparticles (NPs) with an average size of 2.2–3.0 nm were uniformly dispersed on the surface of meso-MnOy. The 0.70 wt% Pt2.42Co/meso-MnOy sample performed the best: the T50% and T90% (temperatures required for achieving methanol conversions of 50 and 90%, respectively) were 50 and 86 °C at a space velocity of 80,000 mL/(g h). The partial deactivation of the 0.70Pt2.42Co/meso-MnOy sample due to water vapor or carbon dioxide introduction was reversible. It is concluded that the excellent catalytic activity of 0.70 wt% Pt2.42Co/meso-MnOy was associated with its highly dispersed Pt2.42Co alloy NPs, high adsorbed oxygen species concentration, good low-temperature reducibility, and strong interaction between Pt2.42Co alloy NPs and meso-MnOy.