Copper catalysts prepared via microwave-heated polyol process for preferential oxidation of CO in H2-rich streams

The purposes of this study were to prepare a copper catalyst by the microwave-heated polyol (MP) process and subsequently to evaluate the feasibility of the preferential oxidation of CO (CO-PROX) in excess H2. A CeO2-TD support was firstly prepared by the thermal decomposition from Ce(NO3)3·6H2O precursor. For comparison, commercial ceria (CeO2-C) and activated carbon (AC) selected as support materials. Experimental results of CO-PROX indicated that the highest catalytic activity is achieved when the Cu/CeO2-TD used as catalysts. Correlating to the characteristic results, it is found that the CeO2-TD support prepared by the thermal decomposition has a large surface area and high mesoporosity; these properties contribute to the easy adsorption of pollutants and the effective dispersion of metal particles. Further investigation of feed composition found that Cu/CeO2-TD catalysts possess 100% CO conversion even existence of CO2 and H2O in H2-rich streams at 150 °C. Besides, a decrease in CO conversion was clearly observed above 175 °C for Cu/CeO2-TD catalysts due to the reverse water gas shift reaction tending to reform CO from CO2 and H2.

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► CeO2-TD was synthesized by thermal decomposition.
► CeO2-TD has a large surface area and high mesoporosity.
► Cu catalysts were prepared via a microwave-heated polyol (MP) process.
► Cu/CeO2-TD showed 100% CO conversion at 150 °C in the presence of CO2 and H2O.
► MP process is a facile and effective preparation method of Cu catalyst for CO-PROX.