Stability improvement of Au/Fe–La–Al2O3 catalyst via incorporating with a FexOy layer in CO oxidation process

Various amounts of α-Fe2O3 were incorporated into the parent Au/Fe–La–Al2O3 catalyst using post-adding iron nitrate precursor via the wetness impregnation method with water, ethanol, and acetone as solvents, respectively. Though post-addition of iron oxides makes gold particles aggregation with less catalyst activity than the parent one in the CO oxidation reaction, the most striking thing is that the Fe-modified catalysts present better online stability. At the same time, in situ thermal treatment can totally recover the activity of the spent Fe-modified catalysts but not the parent one. Water as a solvent performed better than ethanol and acetone; the corresponding catalysts exhibited the best catalytic performance with the most serious Au particle aggregation after post-addition of iron species.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights► α-Fe2O3 was incorporated into Au/Fe–La–Al2O3 catalyst by post-adding iron nitrate with water, ethanol and acetone as solvents. ► On-line stability was enhanced with acceptable activity for the CO oxidation reaction. ► In situ thermal treatment can totally recover the spent Fe-modified catalysts but not the parent one. ► The corresponding catalysts exhibited the best catalytic performance when water was used as a solvent.