Promoting effect of water vapor on catalytic oxidation of methane over cobalt/manganese mixed oxides

Methane oxidation was conducted in a fixed bed quartz tubular reactor on a series of mixed oxides of cobalt/manganese prepared by a sol–gel method. A unique promoting effect of water vapor on methane conversion was observed for the first time on these cobalt/manganese mixed oxides calcined at 450 or 600 °C. However, these mixed catalysts lost their catalytic activities after being calcined at 850 °C. The catalytic activity of methane oxidation was significantly improved by supporting the cobalt/manganese mixed species onto the high surface area SiO2 or Al2O3–SiO2 materials. It was noteworthy that the water enhancement effect was retained on these supported catalysts.