Nanosized Gold and Silver catalysts supported on ceria for abatement of air pollutants - CH3OH, (CH3)2O and CO

This paper reports results on the application of two different preparation methods, namely deposition-precipitation (DP) and modified deposition-precipitation (MDP), for the synthesis of ceria-supported gold and silver catalysts. The effect of the synthesis procedure on the catalytic performance for abatement of air pollutants - CO, CH3OH and (CH3)2O has been studied. The role of gold and silver nanoparticles on the structure and catalytic behaviour of ceria-based catalysts has been also investigated. Gold-ceria catalysts demonstrate superior activity in all studied reactions. The physicochemical properties and the oxidation activity are strongly affected by the preparation method. The DP method leads to the preparation of more active catalysts than the MDP one. A larger fraction of highly dispersed metallic particles is formed on the catalyst surface and enhances the catalytic activity of ceria towards CO2 production. The characterization by High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) of CO at 90 evidenced the impact of different synthesis procedures on the surface and on the bulk structure of the catalysts and allowed to clarify the relationship between structure and catalytic performance.