Mesoporous Co–Fe–O nanocatalysts: Preparation, characterization and catalytic carbon monoxide oxidation

•Mesoporous Co–Fe–O nanocatalysts were prepared by a CTAB-assisted method.•The Co–Fe–O nanocatalysts show high catalytic activity for CO oxidation.•The 400 °C calcined FeCo40 catalyst presents the highest catalytic activity for CO total oxidation at 140 °C.

A series of mesoporous Co–Fe–O were prepared by the cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-assisted method of nanocrystalline particle assembly, and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry–differential thermal analysis (TG–DTA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and N2-sorption analysis techniques. The catalytic properties of the as-prepared samples for CO oxidation were evaluated by using a microreactor-GC system. These mesoporous Co–Fe–O nanocatalysts possesses a wormhole-like mesoporous structure with a narrow pore size distribution and high surface area, exhibiting high catalytic activity for CO oxidation. The catalytic behavior depended on the cobalt species content, the precalcination temperature, the surface area and the particle size of the catalysts. The catalyst of 400 °C-calcined FeCo40 exhibited the highest catalytic activity for CO total oxidation at 140 °C.

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