CO oxidation over Co3O4/SiO2 catalysts: Effects of porous structure of silica and catalyst calcination temperature

The catalytic performances of Co3O4/SiO2 catalysts prepared by incipient wetness impregnation for CO oxidation were investigated using three kinds of silica as carriers with different pore sizes of 7.7, 14.0 and 27.0 nm. The effects of calcination temperature on the catalyst surface and micro structure properties as well as catalytic performance for the oxidation of carbon monoxide were also studied. All catalysts were characterized by N-2 adsorption-desorption, XRD, XPS, FTIR, H-2-TPR and O-2-TPD. It was found that the properties and crystal size of cobalt-containing species strongly depended on the pore size of silica carrier. While the silica pore size increased from 7.7 to 27.0 nm, the Co3O4 crystal size increased from 8.5 to 13.5 nm. Moreover, it was demonstrated that if the spinel crystal structure of Co3O4 was obtained at a calcination temperature as low as 150 degrees C, the catalyst sample would have a high Co3O4 surface dispersion and an increase of surface active species, and thus exhibit a high activity for the oxidation of carbon monoxide.