The effect of copper valence on catalytic combustion of styrene over the copper based catalysts in the absence and presence of water vapor

Catalysts CuOx/γ-Al2O3-IH and CuOx/γ-Al2O3-IM were prepared, characterized, and tested for styrene combustion in the absence and presence of water vapor. The effect of copper valence of the catalysts on the catalytic activity for styrene combustion was discussed using the theory of hard soft acids and bases (HSAB). The results showed that the existence of water vapor in feed stream inhibited the catalytic activity for styrene combustion due to the competition adsorption of water molecule. HSAB theory confirmed that the local soft acidity of the catalyst CuOx/γ-Al2O3-IH was much stronger than that of the catalyst CuOx/γ-Al2O3-IM because of the higher content of soft acid Cu+ on its surface, which increased the adsorption ability toward soft base of styrene and reduced the adsorption toward hard base of water vapor, and thus increased the catalytic activity for styrene combustion and weakened the negative influence of water vapor.