A study of uranium oxide based catalysts for the oxidative destruction of short chain alkanes

Uranium oxide catalysts have been found to be effective for the combustion of a range of common volatile industrial compounds (VOCs) under conditions which are applicable for industrial use. Short chain linear alkanes are amongst the most difficult of VOCs to destroy. This study has investigated the catalytic activity of uranium oxide catalysts for the destruction of linear alkanes in the C1–C4 range. Uranium oxides show low activity for the combustion of methane and ethane and moderate activity for propane and n-butane. Catalyst activity was improved by supporting the uranium oxide on silica and further improvements were achieved by the addition of chromium. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and temperature programmed reduction (TPR) characterisation data indicate that supporting the U3O8 phase and adding chromium modify the structure and chemistry of the oxide. This modification may culminate in an increase in the defective structure of the oxide, resulting in increased oxidation activity.