Catalytic Oxidation of Carbon Monoxide Using Copper-Zinc Mixed Oxide Nanoparticles Supported on Diatomite

Background: Diatomite coated by nanoparticles of copper and zinc mixed oxides were used to investigate catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide. Objectives: Aim of this paper was to investigatediatomite performance as a supporting host to confine the CuO and ZnO nanoparticles and its catalytic activity for carbon monoxide oxidation. Materials and Methods: The prepared catalysts were characterized by Brunauer-Emmett- Teller (BET) surface area, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Catalytic behavior for CO oxidation was studied at different conditions in a tubular reactor packed with catalyst. Results: The results illustrated that diatomite is the promising candidate for catalyst support due to its unique characteristics. The variation of catalytic activity of the prepared composite catalysts withdifferent molar fractions of CuO and ZnO for CO oxidation in different reaction temperatures was investigated. Conclusions: It was found that a CO conversion of 100% can be achieved at 300 °C over catalyst with 80 mol% CuO and 20 mol% ZnO content.