Preparation of Co/Ce Bimetallic Foam-Based Catalyst for Catalytic Oxidation of Toluene

Bimetallic synergism can effectively improve the catalytic activity of the catalyst. In this work, different catalysts were synthesized by loading Co and Ce onto copper foam (CF) by impregnation method and applied to the catalytic oxidation of toluene. Catalytic performance of the Co/Ce loaded catalysts was significantly better than the CF. Among these catalysts, Co1Ce2/CF catalyst had the best catalytic activity of toluene (T90 = 237 degrees C), the lowest apparent activation energy (Ea = 35.0 kJ/mol), excellent stability (40 h) and cycle stability (three cycle) at a toluene concentration of 1000 mg/m3 under WHSV = 15,000 mL/(g<middle dot>h). The good catalytic activity of Co1Ce2/CF catalyst is mainly due to a higher proportion of lattice oxygen, Ce4+ and Co2+. Ce4+ and Co2+ can provide more oxygen vacancies for the catalyst. By H2-TPR and O2-TPD, it is found that Co1Ce2/CF catalyst's effective catalytic activity is probably attributed to its low reduction temperature, ample oxygen storage capacity and low oxygen desorption temperature. In addition, the degradation process of toluene on the catalyst was speculated. The physical and chemical properties of the catalysts were investigated by SEM, EDS, XRD, XPS, BET, H2-TPR and O2-TPD. This work provides an effective way for synthesizing Co-Ce bimetallic oxide supported catalysts with great potential in toluene treatment.