Effect of Co and Fe substitution on catalytic VOCs removal on zinc aluminate

• DOI: 10.1016/j.cattod.2015.01.022
• Publication Date: 2015-02-25T14:31:45Z
• Authors: Mirosław Zawadzki; Janina Okal
• Keywords: 01 natural sciences; 7. Clean energy; 0104 chemical sciences

Abstract Co and Fe substituted ZnAl 2 O 4 were prepared by microwave-assisted solvothermal method and their catalytic properties were tested in the total oxidation of lean propane as catalysts or supports for platinum catalyst. Substitution of ZnAl 2 O 4 by Co and Fe ions modifies its structural, textural and acid–base properties as well as reduction behavior and particle morphology. As a result, improvement of the catalytic activity was observed: light-off curves were shifted towards lower temperatures and propane combustion rates were higher by 60% for the Co-substituted spinels and by 100% for the Fe-containing spinels. Pt catalysts revealed superior catalytic activity as compared to the pure and substituted spinels and some support effect was observed. Namely, platinum deposited on the Co-substituted spinels possesses higher activity than that on the ZnAl 2 O 4 and Fe-containing spinels. We suppose that acid–base properties of the support materials and Pt particle size influence on the intrinsic Pt oxidation activity. It was found that small Pt particles (∼0.9 nm) deposited on the support with the highest acidity (Zn 0.5 Co 0.5 Al 2 O 4 ) exhibited the highest activity.