Catalytic oxidation of acetone over CuCeOx nanofibers prepared by an electrospinning method

Abstract

A series of CuCeO_x nanofiber catalysts with different Cu/(Cu + Ce) molar ratios were synthesized by an electrospinning method. The catalysts were evaluated for acetone oxidation at different temperatures (100–280 °C) with a GHSV of 79 000 ml g⁻¹ h⁻¹. The results showed that nanofiber catalysts possessed better catalytic performance than catalysts prepared by urea-nitrate combustion and sol–gel methods. An appropriate Cu/(Cu + Ce) molar ratio could greatly improve the activity of the nanofiber catalysts, and a significant improvement of the activity was obtained on the Cu_0.50Ce_0.50O_x nanofiber catalyst (∼100% acetone conversion at 270 °C). Characteristic analysis of prepared catalysts suggested (1) a special nanofibrous morphology with large specific surface area; (2) abundant oxygen vacancies and (3) cerium ions with unusual oxidation states were the main factors that would affect catalytic activity of CuCeO_x nanofibers catalysts.