Structural changes in a Cu/Al 2O 3 catalyst when used for oxidation of carbon monoxide

Abstract

It has been found when copper is deposited on high surface area alumina using loadings below about 4 wt% Cu and calcined below 773 K that a surface spinel CuAl{sub 2}O{sub 4} forms, in which most of the Cu{sup 2+} is located in a distorted octahedral geometry. Previous results have indicated that, for such loadings, the most active catalysts for CO oxidation at 473 K are obtained by prereduction with pure CO; however, the initial active state was found to be affected by a significant deactivation. The present study was undertaken to elucidate the structural changes accompanying deactivation during CO oxidation.