Thermal Treatment Effect on Catalytic Activity of Au/TiO2 for CO Oxidation
A novel and well-organized study for the synthesis and enhanced catalytic activity of Au/TiO2catalysts has been developed. A momentous improvement in the catalytic activity of Au/TiO2in CO oxidation and preferential oxidation reaction by thermal treatment has been studied. Au/TiO2catalyst (Au (1 wt.%) supported on TiO2) was prepared by conventional deposition-precipitation method with NaOH followed by washing, drying and calcination in air at 400 °C for 4 h. Thermal treatment of Au/TiO2was performed at 450 °C under 0.05 mTorr. The activity of the catalysts has been examined in the reaction of CO oxidation and preferential oxidation (PROX) at 25-250 °C. The catalytic performance was found to be strongly affected by thermal treatment of the prepared catalyst prior to the reaction. Heat treatment after Au deposition has a positive effect on the CO oxidation performance. This is attributed to the introduction of a stronger interaction between the oxide and Au which improves the catalytic activity.