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

Abstract A novel Cu/Mn co-loaded mesoporous ZrO 2 –TiO 2 (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 KMnO 4 and the surfactant template. The prepared samples were characterized by XRD, N 2 sorption, TEM, SEM, H 2 -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 ZrO 2 –TiO 2 matrix was proposed and discussed in detail.