Transition Metal (Ni, Cu and Fe) Substituted Co3O4- ZrO2Catalysts for Lean Methane Combustion

Transition metal (Ni, Cu and Fe) substituted Co3O4-ZrO(2)catalysts (NiCZ, CuCZ and FeCZ, respectively) were synthesized by PEG assisted sonochemical synthesis and tested for lean methane combustion. These catalysts offered complete combustion of methane by generating CO(2)and steam as products. The strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) allowed the high catalytic activity at temperatures below 600 degrees C. All catalysts have shown superior stability for 20 h of time on stream conditions. In practical conditions, SO(2)presence is obvious in methane feed, even trace levels of it inhibits the catalytic activity to a greater extent. In this study, the performance of catalysts and reaction mechanism was evaluated in presence of SO(2)in reactant feed using packed bed catalytic activity studies and in situ FTIR. Among all catalysts, FeCZ has shown superior catalytic activity even under SO(2)in the feed compared to NiCZ and CuCZ. The apparent activation energy was found to be larger in case of SO(2)presence for all the catalysts. The structural and reducibility properties have been characterized with the XRD, XPS, TEM and H-2-TPR studies.

Automated summary

Transition metal substituted Co3O4-ZrO(2) catalysts (NiCZ, CuCZ and FeCZ) were synthesized by PEG assisted sonochemical synthesis and showed excellent catalytic activity and stability for lean methane combustion. The presence of SO(2) in the reactant feed significantly inhibited the catalytic activity, although FeCZ exhibited superior performance compared to NiCZ and CuCZ. Characterization studies using XRD, XPS, TEM and H-2-TPR revealed structural and reducibility properties of the catalysts.