Enhanced Catalytic Activity of Supported Gold Catalysts for Oxidation of Noxious Environmental Pollutant CO

Noble metal nanomaterials have attracted mounting research attention for applications in diverse fields of catalysis, biology, and nanotechnology. In the present study, we have undertaken a detailed investigation on synthesis, characterization, and catalytic activity studies for CO oxidation by nanogold catalysts supported over CeO2 and CeO2-ZrO2 (1 : 1 mole ratio). The support systems were prepared by modified, simple precipitation technique and the Au supported samples were synthesized using deposition-precipitation with urea method. The physicochemical characterization was performed by XRD, ICP-AES, BET surface area, FT-IR, UV-Vis DRS, Raman Spectroscopy, TEM, and XPS techniques. Au/CeO2 catalyst showed more than 80% CO conversions at 30°C, whereas Au/CeO2-ZrO2 exhibited ~100% CO conversion at that temperature. The catalytic performance of Au catalysts is highly dependent on the nature of the support.