Cobalt and iron oxide modified mesoporous zirconia: Preparation, characterization and catalytic behaviour in methanol conversion

Mesoporous zirconia materials with different textural characteristics and degrees of crystallinity were obtained by various procedures and modified with cobalt and iron oxide nanoparticles. The obtained materials were characterized by N2-physisorption, XRD, TEM, FTIR, Mössbauer spectroscopy, TPR-TG and methanol conversion as a catalytic test. Formation of finely dispersed iron and cobalt oxide species, hosted in the zirconia matrix, was observed after the modification. The obtained composites possess higher catalytic activity and different in comparison with the corresponding zirconia supports dehydration and dehydrogenation ability. It was demonstrated that the variations in the textural and surface features of zirconia support and the deposition of different metal oxides on it provided a great opportunity for the preparation of catalysts with tunable bi-functional acidic and redox properties.