Insight into catalytic performance and reaction mechanism for toluene total oxidation over Cu-Ce supported catalyst

Herein, three supported catalysts, CuO/Al2O3, CeO2/Al2O3, and CuOCeO2/Al2O3, were synthesized by the convenient impregnation method to reveal the effect of CeO2 addition on catalytic performance and reaction mechanism for toluene oxidation. Compared with CuO/Al2O3, the T50 and T90 (the temperatures at 50% and 90% toluene conversion, respectively) of CuOCeO2/Al2O3 were reduced by 33 and 39℃, respectively. N2 adsorption-desorption experiment, XRD, SEM, EDS mapping, Raman, EPR, H2-TPR, O2-TPD, XPS, NH3-TPD, Toluene-TPD, and in-situ DRIFTS were conducted to characterize these catalysts. The excellent catalytic performance of CuOCeO2/Al2O3 could be attributed to its strong copper-cerium interaction and high oxygen vacancies concentration. Moreover, in-situ DRIFTS proved that CuOCeO2/Al2O3 promoted the conversion of toluene to benzoate and accelerated the deep degradation path of toluene. This work provided valuable insights into the development of efficient and economical catalysts for volatile organic compounds.