engleski

Catalytic oxidation of toluene on hydrothermally prepared ceria nanocrystals

Ceria nanocrystals were prepared hydrothermally and tested as potential catalysts for oxidation of volatile organic compounds using toluene as a model compound. Pure ceria with a crystallite size of 4 nm, determined by Scherrer method from XRD pattern has been obtained. Specific surface area of the prepared nanoparticles determined by BET analysis yields 201 m2 g-1, while bandgap of 3.2 eV has been estimated from DRS spectrum via Tauc’s plot. Catalytic tests were performed on calcined ceria (500 °C) with increased crystallite size (9 nm) caused by thermal treatment. The tests showed good activities for the toluene oxidation with T50 temperatures, corresponding to 50 % toluene conversion, observed at 250 °C and even lower temperatures depending on the total flow rate of the gas mixture. The one-dimensional pseudo- homogeneous model of the fixed bed reactor was proposed to describe the reactor performance and the appropriate kinetic parameters were estimated. A good agreement between experimental data and the proposed model was observed.

ceria ; catalytic oxidation ; nanomaterials ; toluene ; modeling

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