Oil shale ash supported CuO nanocatalysts: Preparation, characterization and catalytic activity for CO oxidation

Oil shale ash (OSA) is a solid waste, and which was generated from the shale oil production process. In this study, the OSA support CuO nanocatalyst, CuO/OSA, was prepared by using the deposition-precipitation method. The textural and structural properties of the OSA and the as-prepared CuO/OSA catalysts were characterized by the X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and N2-sorption techniques. The catalytic activities of the as-prepared catalysts for CO oxidation were investigated by using a microreactor-GC system. The serial results indicated that this catalyst system possesses interesting catalytic performance that comparable to the previously reported metal oxide supported CuO catalysts. The 400 °C calcined 8%-CuO/OSA catalyst can catalytic CO oxidation completely at 210 °C. This investigation demonstrates the feasible utilization of the solid waste, which was generated from the production process of shale oil, for the control of atmospheric pollution.