One-pot preparation of 3D-printed Co-loaded silica ceramic catalysts

Abstract

3D-printed catalysts offer several advantages, including high efficiency, energy savings, and design flexibility. However, the one-pot preparation of 3D-printed catalysts with favourable catalytic performance and uniform distribution of catalytically active components remains a significant challenge. This study explores the preparation of Co-loaded silica ceramic-based catalysts via a one-pot method using direct ink writing (DIW). Silica ceramic-based catalysts with varying grid sizes and Co loadings (1–3 wt%) were fabricated using aluminium dihydrogen phosphate (AP) as an inorganic binder and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) as an organic binder. Co was uniformly distributed without aggregation, and the loading was easily customisable. The catalytic conversion rate of p-nitrophenol (4-NP) reached 100 % and remained at 95.4 % after eight cycles. Furthermore, the compressive stresses of AP-C and HPMC-C reached 93.7 and 11.3 MPa, respectively. This one-pot method provides a novel, facile, and efficient approach for fabricating 3D-printed silica ceramic-based catalysts in one step.