Activity and selectivity investigations of copper catalysis by concentration programmed reaction method

Copper catalysis proceeds with multiple steady states and oscillations in several oxidation reactions. The understanding of such kinetic phenomena is essential for the control of copper-catalyzed industrial scale processes. Information about the reasons and the ranges of the parameters causing these kinetic effects will be given from results gained by concentration programmed reaction (CP-reaction) experiments. Elemental copper was used as unsupported catalysts and the oxidation of hydrogen and ethanol were introduced as model reactions. CP-reaction experiments were performed in a tubular reactor as well as in a differential thermal gravimetric analyzer (TG/DTA). The application of a TG/DTA as a reactor gave the opportunity for a simultaneous measurement of the activity and the grade of oxidation of the copper catalyst.