Characterization and catalytic performance of Co/SBA-15 supported gold catalysts for CO oxidation

Cobalt-containing SBA-15 supported gold catalysts for low-temperature CO oxidation were prepared and characterized by N2 adsorption/desorption, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, inductively coupled plasma-atom emission spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy techniques. The effects of cobalt and gold content on the catalyst activity were investigated in detail. Among them, 2% Au/40% Co/SBA-15 shows the highest activity, its complete conversion temperature for CO is at 273 K. It was believed that both the dispersion of Co3O4 and the high surface areas caused by SBA-15 contribute to the good activities of cobalt-containing SBA-15 supported gold catalysts. Furthermore, the strong metal-support interaction between gold and cobalt oxides is greatly related to the catalytic performance.