Silica-Supported Copper (II) Oxide Cluster via Ball Milling Method for Catalytic Combustion of Ethyl Acetate

Highly dispersed CuO/SiO2 catalysts were successfully synthesized by a green process of ball milling (BM) under solvent-free and room temperature conditions. The structural evolution of CuO/SiO2 catalysts prepared by BM was elucidated by TG-DSC, XRD, FT-IR, and XPS characterizations. We found that the copper acetate precursor was dispersed over the layer of copper phyllosilicate which was formed by reacting between the copper acetate precursor and the silica support during the BM process. The copper phyllosilicate layer over the support might play an important role in the stabilization of the CuO cluster (<2 nm) during thermal pretreatment. The 15% CuO/SiO2 catalyst exhibited the best catalytic activity for the catalytic combustion of ethyl acetate as it owned a highest active surface area of CuO among the CuO/SiO2 catalysts with different copper loadings.