Catalytic combustion of benzene over CuO/CeO2 catalysts prepared using the precipitation–deposition method

Catalytic combustion of benzene over CeO2-supported copper oxides has been investigated. The supported copper oxide catalysts were prepared by use of the precipitation–deposition method at different solution pH, and characterized by XRD, FT-IR, and TPR. CuO/CeO2 catalysts prepared by use of this method contained highly dispersed copper oxide species at high loading ratio. The CuO supported on CeO2 prepared at pH 7 had the highest activity, with conversion reaching almost 100% at 210 °C. However, CuO supported on CeO2 prepared without NaOH had poor activity. In addition, catalytic activity increased with increasing CuO loading ratio, with the 10 wt% loaded CuO/CeO2 catalyst having the highest activity.