Enhancing the catalytic performance of cobalt oxide by doping on ceria in the high temperature water–gas shift reaction

Abstract

The high temperature water–gas shift (HT-WGS) reaction was performed using a Co–CeO₂ catalyst, prepared through a co-precipitation method. The catalyst showed stable activity performance at 400 °C with 90% CO conversion without any side reactions (methanation) at a very high GHSV of 143 000 h⁻¹, which is the highest value reported for the HT-WGS reaction. This remarkable performance is attributed to the superior reducible nature of ceria and the preferential exposure of (220) and (112) facets of CeO₂ and Co₃O₄, respectively. The time-on-stream study substantiates that ceria stabilizes the surface area of the Co–CeO₂ catalyst during the WGS reaction compared to the bulk Co₃O₄.