Template-free Synthesis of Stable Cobalt Manganese Spinel Hollow Nanostructured Catalysts for Highly Water-Resistant CO Oxidation

Zehai Xu; Yufan Zhang; Xiong Li; Lei Qin; Qin Meng; Guoliang Zhang; Zheng Fan; Zhen Xue; Xinwen Guo; Qinglin Liu; Qingbiao Li; Baohua Mao; Zhi Liu

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2019.10.013

Template-free Synthesis of Stable Cobalt Manganese Spinel Hollow Nanostructured Catalysts for Highly Water-Resistant CO Oxidation

iScience. 2019 Nov 22:21:19-30. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2019.10.013. Epub 2019 Oct 9.

Authors

Zehai Xu¹, Yufan Zhang², Xiong Li¹, Lei Qin¹, Qin Meng³, Guoliang Zhang⁴, Zheng Fan¹, Zhen Xue¹, Xinwen Guo⁵, Qinglin Liu⁶, Qingbiao Li⁷, Baohua Mao⁸, Zhi Liu⁸

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Oceanic and Environmental Chemical Engineering, State Key Lab Breeding Base of Green Chemical Synthesis Technology, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, P. R. China.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
³ College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, P. R. China.
⁴ Institute of Oceanic and Environmental Chemical Engineering, State Key Lab Breeding Base of Green Chemical Synthesis Technology, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, P. R. China; College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, National Laboratory for Green Chemical Productions of Alcohols, Ethers and Esters, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China. Electronic address: guoliangz@zjut.edu.cn.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Department of Catalysis Chemistry and Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116012, P. R. China.
⁶ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, National Laboratory for Green Chemical Productions of Alcohols, Ethers and Esters, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China.
⁷ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, National Laboratory for Green Chemical Productions of Alcohols, Ethers and Esters, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P. R. China; Fujian Province Key Laboratory of Energy Cleaning Utilization and Development, Jimei University, Xiamen 361021, P. R. China. Electronic address: kelqb@xmu.edu.cn.
⁸ Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China.

Abstract

Development of spinel oxides as low-cost and high-efficiency catalysts is highly desirable; however, rational synthesis of efficient and stable spinel systems with precisely controlled structure and components remains challenging. We demonstrate the design of complex nanostructured cobalt-based bimetallic spinel catalysts for low-temperature CO oxidation by a simple template-free method. The self-assembled multi-shelled mesoporous spinel nanostructures provide high surface area (203.5 m²/g) and favorable unique surface chemistry for producing abundant active sites and lead to the creation of robust microsphere configured by 16-nm spinel nanosheets, which achieve satisfactory water-resisting property and catalytic activity. Theoretical models show that O vacancies at exposed {110} facets in cubic spinel phase guarantee the strong adsorption of reactive oxygen species on the surface of catalysts and play a key role in the prevention of deactivation under moisture-rich conditions. The design concept with architecture and composition control can be extended to other mixed transition metal oxide compositions.

Keywords: Catalysis; Chemistry; Environmental Nanotechnology.