Low-Temperature CO Oxidation Over CuO/Co3O4 Catalysts

Abstract

Copper cobalt composite oxide catalysts have been prepared by co-precipitation method. The prepared samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectra and nitrogen adsorption to determine the specific surface areas (S_BET). The catalytic activity and stability of samples were investigated for CO oxidation by using a microreactor-GC system. The results indicate that the copper cobalt composite oxide catalysts exhibited obviously higher catalytic activity for CO oxidation than that of individual CuO or Co₃O₄ with CO total conversion at 80 ºC and their stability was quite well. The catalytic activity of the catalysts prepared by co-precipitation increases by increasing the calcination temperature from 150 to 200 ºC and decreases from 200 to 500 ºC. The effect of the volume of NaOH (2.0 mol/L), ageing time, calcination temperature, calcination time, the molar ratios of copper to cobalt and the specific surface areas on the catalytic activity of the catalysts was investigated in this paper.