Investigation of Copper-supported Ceria Nanofibers for Catalytic Oxidation of Diesel Soot
Abstract In the present research, CeO2 and CuO/CeO2 nanofibers were synthesized by electrospinning at 12 kV DC by maintaining a tip to collector distance of 10 cm. The morphology of the as-synthesized nanofibers was determined by scanning electron microscopy, and their elemental composition was verified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The activity of the prepared samples for diesel soot oxidation was determined in a bench-scale fixed bed tubular reactor, and effluent gases were analyzed by online gas chromatography. The variations of working parameters (air flow rate, catalyst-soot ratio, catalyst-soot contact type) were evaluated in a range to optimized reaction conditions for diesel soot oxidation. The catalyst with 40% CuO/CeO2 had the highest surface area, the smallest crystallite size, and the best activity for diesel soot oxidation (tight contact) at Tf = 318oC.