Promotional effect of CeO2 and Y2O3 on CuO/ZrO2 catalysts for methane combustion

Catalytic combustion of methane was conducted by using a Cu-based catalyst prepared by the plasma-assisted impregnation method. The properties of the catalysts were surveyed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR). The results showed that the activity of CuO/ZrO2 with the CeO2 and Y2O3 was obviously increased compared with the CuO/ZrO2 catalyst, which was examined in relation to the structure and surface characteristics and might be correlated with their surface oxygen species and redox properties. Among the investigated catalysts, the Ce-CuO/ZrO2 sample exhibited the highest activity for methane combustion.