Gold catalysts supported on ZnO/Al2O3 for low-temperature CO oxidation

Gold catalysts with loadings ranging from 0.5 to 7.0 wt% on a ZnO/Al2O3 support were prepared by the deposition-precipitation method (Au/ZnO/Al2O3) with ammonium bicarbonate as the precipitation agent and were evaluated for performance in CO oxidation. These catalysts were characterized by inductively coupled plasma-atom emission spectrometry, temperature programmed reduction, and scanning transmission electron microscopy. The catalytic activity for CO oxidation was measured using a flow reactor under atmospheric pressure. Catalytic activity was found to be strongly dependent on the reduction property of oxygen adsorbed on the gold surface, which related to gold particle size. Higher catalytic activity was found when the gold particles had an average diameter of 3-5 nm; in this range, gold catalysts were more active than the Pt/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst in CO oxidation. Au/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst with small amount of ZnO is more active than Au/Al2O3 catalyst due to higher dispersion of gold particles.