Facile Preparation of Well-Dispersed CeO2–ZnO Composite Hollow Microspheres with Enhanced Catalytic Activity for CO Oxidation

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces 2014-01, Vol.6 (1), p.421-428
• Main Authors: Xie, Qingshui, Zhao, Yue, Guo, Huizhang, Lu, Aolin, Zhang, Xiangxin, Wang, Laisen, Chen, Ming-Shu, Peng, Dong-Liang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/am404487b

In this article, well-dispersed CeO2–ZnO composite hollow microspheres have been fabricated through a simple chemical reaction followed by annealing treatment. Amorphous zinc–cerium citrate hollow microspheres were first synthesized by dispersing zinc citrate hollow microspheres into cerium nitrate solution and then aging at room temperature for 1 h. By calcining the as-produced zinc–cerium citrate hollow microspheres at 500 °C for 2 h, CeO2–ZnO composite hollow microspheres with homogeneous composition distribution could be harvested for the first time. The resulting CeO2–ZnO composite hollow microspheres exhibit enhanced activity for CO oxidation compared with CeO2 and ZnO, which is due to well-dispersed small CeO2 particles on the surface of ZnO hollow microspheres and strong interaction between CeO2 and ZnO. Moreover, when Au nanoparticles are deposited on the surface of the CeO2–ZnO composite hollow microspheres, the full CO conversion temperature of the as-produced 1.0 wt % Au–CeO2–ZnO composites reduces from 300 to 60 °C in comparison with CeO2–ZnO composites. The significantly improved catalytic activity may be ascribed to the strong synergistic interplay between Au nanoparticles and CeO2–ZnO composites.