Effects of Ce in the catalytic combustion of toluene on CuxCe1-xFe2O4

CuxCe1-xFe2O4 (x = 0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, 1) catalysts were synthesized by a sol-gel auto-combustion method, and the catalysts were characterized by differential thermal analysis (DTA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), H-2-temperature-programmed reduction (H-2-TPR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The activity of CuxCe1-xFe2O4 was evaluated in the catalytic combustion of toluene in a fixed-bed reactor. The results indicated that the Cu0.8Ce0.2Fe2O4 expressed the highest catalytic combustion activity of toluene, the ignition temperature (T50) and the complete conversion temperature (T90) were 180 degrees C and 215 degrees C, respectively. The Ce doping of CuFe2O4 could increase the oxygen storage capacity and improve the catalytic combustion activity of toluene. The CuFe2O4 spinel crystal structure gradually disappeared with the increase in Ce doping; at the same time, the catalytic combustion activity of the samples was obviously affected.