Comparative Study of CuO Species on CuO/Al2O3, CuO/CeO-Al2O3 andCuO/La2O-Al2O3 Catalysts for CO Oxidation

CuO/Al2O3, CuO/CeO2-Al2O3, and CuO/La2O3-Al2O3 (denoted as Cu/Al, Cu/CeAl, and Cu/LaAl) catalysts were prepared by an impregnation method. CuO species and CuO/Al2O3 thermal solid-solid interaction were characterized by in situ XRD, Raman spectroscopy and H2-TPR techniques. For the Cu/Al catalyst, a CuAl2O4 phase exists between the CuO and Al2O3 layer and the CuO phase exists on the surface in both highly dispersed and bulk forms. For the Cu/CeAl catalyst, there is highly dispersed and bulk CuO on the surface, but most of the CuO has transferred into the internal layer of CeO2 as bulk CuO and CuAl2O4. For the Cu/LaAl catalyst, only bulk CuO is present on the surface of the catalyst and no CuAl2O4 is formed. The catalytic activity order for CO oxidation is Cu/CeAl>Cu/Al>Cu/LaAl. The highly dispersed CuO on the catalyst surface may be the active phase for CO oxidation. The results show that the addition of CeO2 not only promotes both the transference of CuO and the formation of CuAl2O4 but also favors the CO oxidation due to the association of highly dispersed CuO with CeO2, while La2O3 hinders the transference of CuO and the formation of CuAl2O4.