Great activity enhancement of Co3O4/γ-Al2O3 catalyst for propane combustion by structural modulation

• Published in: Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996) Vol. 395; p. 125071
• Main Authors: Cai, Ting, Deng, Wei, Xu, Peng, Yuan, Jing, Liu, Zhe, Zhao, Kunfeng, Tong, Qin, He, Dannong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.09.2020
• Subjects: Co-Al interaction; Core-shell structure; Propane combustion; Reduction-passivation treatment; Structural modulation; Co-Al interaction; Core-shell structure; Structural modulation; Propane combustion; Reduction-passivation treatment
• ISSN: 1385-8947; 1873-3212
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2020.125071

[Display omitted] •A reduction-passivation approach has been developed to modulate Co-Al interaction.•A core-shell structure with highly dispersed surface cobalt species is formed.•T50 and T90 over 10CoAl-500RO lowered by 101 °C and 105 °C than 10Co3O4/γ-Al2O3.•Weak Co-Al interaction and dispersed Co3O4 contribute to performance enhancement. Co3O4/γ-Al2O3 is a high-active catalyst for VOCs combustion, however large numbers of inactive cobalt species will form easily as a result of strong Co/Al interaction which usually leads to a significant activity reduction of the active cobalt species. Here, a facile reduction-passivation approach has been developed to modulate the Co/Al interaction in 10%Co3O4/γ-Al2O3 catalyst, which produces abundant active cobalt oxides with rather small particle size stabilized on the surface as a core-shell structure. The catalytic activity for the model reaction of propane combustion could be enhanced greatly by this approach. The weak Co-Al interaction and the highly dispersed Co3O4 on the outer-layer of the core-shell structure contribute mainly to the great activity enhancement. Further, the reduction-passivation treated catalyst also exhibits excellent stability and even a moderate activity increase after prolonged or recycling catalytic tests. The present reduction-passivation treatment can be a promising way to improve the catalytic performance of Co-based catalysts for high temperature catalytic combustion.