Copper oxide clusters stabilized by ceria for CO, C₃H₆, and NO abatement

A strong interaction between a metal oxide and support has long been indicative of its promotion of catalytic activities. In connection with this, we investigated the interaction of CuO with γ-Al₂O₃ and CeO₂ for producing highly efficient catalysts for CO, C₃H₃, and NO abatement. In particular, the dispersion and thermal aging resistance of CuO clusters on different supports were studied. CuO clusters can be stabilized by interaction with CeO₂, while on γ-Al₂O₃ they aggregated into larger particles at high CuO loadings. On the other hand, due to the poor thermal stability of CeO₂, CuO clusters dispersed on it were sintered during an aging treatment at 950°C. Accordingly, by pre-dispersing CeO₂ on γ-Al₂O₃ followed by CuO dispersion, stabilized CuO clusters were obtained that were based on the superior aging resistance of the γ-Al₂O₃ support. Therefore, better catalytic performance and thermal aging properties were obtained with a CuO/CeO₂/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst as compared with CuO/γ-Al₂O₃ and CuO/CeO₂ samples.