High performance and stability of copper loading on mesoporous ceria catalyst for preferential oxidation of CO in presence of excess of hydrogen

Copper (Cu) supported on mesoporous (MSP) ceria catalysts were prepared by deposition-precipitation (DP) method for the preferential CO oxidation of CO in a H2-rich stream (CO-PROX). A MSP ceria support with a high surface area of 293 m2/g and ordered structure was synthesized by a nanocasting process using MCM-48 as template. All copper-MSP ceria catalysts show high dispersion of Cu and still maintain the fluorite structure of MSP ceria. Moreover, TEM imaging confirmed the three dimensional and long-range ordered pore structure of the Cu-catalysts. The reduction temperature of the Cu-catalysts decreases compared to pure MSP ceria and the reduction of Ce4+ to Ce3+ decreases with increasing copper content. An MSP ceria catalyst with 7 wt% Cu loading (7Cu/MSP ceria) shows the highest activity with high stability for over 48 h in various feed components, making it attractive for use as a catalyst in purification of hydrogen.