Abstract
In this work, pure and copper-doped ceria (CuxCe1-xO2, x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4) nanoparticles were prepared using the organic additive- and template-free hydrothermal method, thermally treated and thoroughly characterized. The catalytic activity in the oxidation of volatile organic compounds was tested using benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and o-xylene gaseous mixture (BTEX). The obtained nanocatalysts consist of very small spherical particles with sizes between 12 and 8.4 nm. Even though the XPS results show that copper is incorporated into the ceria crystal lattice in amounts lower than nominal, a beneficial synergistic effect between copper and cerium species is visible in the overall properties of the prepared materials. The sample with 40 mol.% copper is particularly noteworthy representing a precedent in terms of the largest nominal doping amount without the occurrence of secondary phases achieved by hydrothermal synthesis, and exhibiting the best catalytic activity for all studied VOCs.
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This work has been fully supported by Croatian Science Foundation under the project IP-01–2018-2963. The sustenance of the University of Zagreb and University of Vienna is gratefully acknowledged.
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Mužina, K., Kurajica, S., Guggenberger, P. et al. Catalytic activity and properties of copper-doped ceria nanocatalyst for VOCs oxidation. Journal of Materials Research 37, 1929–1940 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43578-022-00606-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/s43578-022-00606-1