The activity and selectivity properties of supported metal oxide catalysts during oxidation reactions

Abstract

Supported metal oxide catalysts are extensively employed in the petrochemical and pollution control industries as oxidation catalysts. The active redox components of supported metal oxide catalysts are present as two-dimensional metal oxide overlayers on the high surface area oxide supports.In the present investigation, Raman spectroscopy was used to obtain information about the molecular structures present in the two-dimensional overlayers, and methanol oxidation was used to chemically probe the surface redox and acid sites. A combination of this information with catalytic data for the selective oxidation of alkanes and the selective reduction of NOx with ammonia has provided new insights into the origin of the activity and selectivity properties of supported metal oxide catalysts during oxidation reactions.