Carbon-Supported Silver Catalysts for CO Selective Oxidation in Excess Hydrogen

Carbon materials were used as supports for Ag catalysts that are prepared using the conventional wet impregnation method, and their catalytic properties for CO selective oxidation in excess hydrogen at temperatures below 483 K were tested. A variety of techniques, e.g. N2 adsorption, XPS, TPD, UV-Vis DRS, TEM and SEM, were used to determine the influence of physical and chemical properties of the carbon on the properties of Ag catalyst. It was found that defects on the carbon surface served as nucleation sites for silver ions, while functional groups on carbon surface induced their reduction to the metallic form. The formation of silver particles on carbon was governed by homogeneous and/or heterogeneous nucleation during the impregnation and subsequent activation processes. The best catalytic performance was obtained with a Ag/carbon black catalyst with a uniform size distribution of silver nanoparticles (about 12 nm), moderate BET surface area (with a mesoporous structure), and a limited amount of carbon-oxygen groups. The research indicates that carbon materials are potentially good supports for silver catalysts for preferential oxidation of CO in excess hydrogen.