Structural changes of highly active Pd/MeOx (Me = Fe, Co, Ni) during catalytic methane combustion

Fe2O3, Co3O4 and NiO nanoparticles were prepared via a citrate method and further functionalized with Pd by impregnation. The pure oxides as well as Pd/Fe2O3, Pd/Co3O4, and Pd/NiO (1, 5 and 10 wt % Pd) were employed for catalytic methane combustion under methane lean (1 vol %)/oxygen rich (18 vol %, balanced with nitrogen) conditions. Already, the pure metal oxides showed a high catalytic activity leading to complete conversion temperature of T-100 <= 500 degrees C. H-2-TPR (Temperature-programmed reduction) experiments revealed that Pd-functionalized metal oxides exhibited enhanced redox activity compared to the pure oxides leading to improved catalytic combustion activity at lower temperatures. At a loading of 1 wt % Pd, 1Pd/Co3O4 (T-100 = 360 degrees C) outperforms 1Pd/Fe2O3 (T-100 = 410 degrees C) as well as 1Pd/NiO (T-100 = 380 degrees C). At a loading of 10 wt % Pd, T-100 could only be slightly reduced in all cases. 1Pd/Co3O4 and 1Pd/NiO show reasonable stability over 70 h on stream at T-100. XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) and STEM (Scanning transmission electron microscopy) investigations revealed strong interactions between Pd and NiO as well as Co3O4, respectively, leading to dynamic transformations and reoxidation of Pd due to solid state reactions, which leads to the high long-term stability.