Catalytic activity of Pd/Al2O3 toward the combustion of methane

This work focuses on the improving of the activities and stabilities of Pd/Al2O3 catalysts for lean methane catalytic combustion. The influence of preparation conditions on performance of Pd/Al2O3 catalyst has been studied. Results showed that excellent performance of the catalyst was attributed to high hydrothermal stability at the support calcination temperature of 1100 °C. In addition, the catalytic activity was enhanced due to high dispersion of active species at lower catalyst calcination temperature. The catalysts were studied by XPS analysis. Results showed that the active phase of Pd/Al2O3 was Pd or Pd/PdO mixture. And the state transformation of Pd species resulted in the deactivation of Pd/Al2O3.