A Cu/Mn co-loaded mesoporous ZrO₂-TiO₂ composite and its CO catalytic oxidation property

A novel Cu/Mn co-loaded mesoporous ZrO₂-TiO₂ (ZT) composite has been successfully synthesized, in which Cu species were first introduced by co-hydrolysis of copper precursor with zirconium and titanium precursors, following on loading with Mn species via an in situ redox reaction between KMnO₄ and the surfactant template. The prepared samples were characterized by XRD, N₂ sorption, TEM, SEM, H₂-TPR, UV-vis and XPS techniques, etc. CO catalytic oxidation was chosen as a model reaction to investigate the distinctively synergetic catalytic effect in the prepared co-loaded sample. Compared with single component of Cu or Mn loaded samples, the co-loaded CuMnZT demonstrated much enhanced catalytic activity at the Cu content of ≥2.2 wt%. A possible synergetic catalytic effect among the Cu, Mn species and mesoporous ZrO₂-TiO₂ matrix was proposed and discussed in detail.