Boosting total oxidation of propane over CeO2@Co3O4 nanofiber catalysts prepared by multifluidic coaxial electrospinning with continuous grain boundary and fast lattice oxygen mobility

Xiaoshan Feng; Fenqiang Luo; Yinye Chen; Daifeng Lin; Yongjin Luo; Liren Xiao; Xinping Liu; Xiaoli Sun; Qingrong Qian; Qinghua Chen

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124695

Boosting total oxidation of propane over CeO₂@Co₃O₄ nanofiber catalysts prepared by multifluidic coaxial electrospinning with continuous grain boundary and fast lattice oxygen mobility

J Hazard Mater. 2021 Mar 15:406:124695. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124695. Epub 2020 Dec 2.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Digital Fujian Internet-of-Things Laboratory of Environmental Monitoring, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China.
² Digital Fujian Internet-of-Things Laboratory of Environmental Monitoring, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China. Electronic address: yongjinluo@fjnu.edu.cn.
³ Digital Fujian Internet-of-Things Laboratory of Environmental Monitoring, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China; Fuqing Branch of Fujian Normal University, Fuqing 350300, China. Electronic address: cqhuar@fjnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 33310339
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124695

Abstract

A one-dimensional (1D) core-shell of Co-Ce oxide has been prepared by multifluidic coaxial electrospinning method and evaluated for the total oxidation of propane (C₃H₈). Activity and morphological characterizations show that the CeO₂@Co₃O₄ nanofiber catalyst, of which the core is CeO₂ and the shell is Co₃O₄, exhibits excellent oxidation activity. The exposed Co₃O₄ grown on the outside of the fibers can rapidly react with C₃H₈ while CeO₂ with high oxygen storage capacity in the inside is conductive to the enhanced oxidation rate. Besides, the continuous grain boundary provides a fast mass transfer channel for lattice oxygen, and rich oxygen vacancies favor the mobility of active oxygen species. In situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTs) confirms that the CeO₂@Co₃O₄ catalyst have a faster rate of C₃H₈ adsorption and better oxidation activity with respect to the counterpart using a single-needle electrospinning method. Moreover, the CeO₂@Co₃O₄ catalyst displays excellent thermal stability, and strong resistance against 5 vol% H₂O and 5 vol% CO₂ at both 300 and 400 °C. Our strategy can give some new insights into morphological engineering to promote active oxygen mobility via the construction of one-dimensional core-shell of metal oxides for catalytic oxidation of VOCs.

Keywords: CeO(2)@Co(3)O(4) nanofibers; Continuous grain boundary; Multifluidic coaxial electrospinning; Oxygen vacancies; Propane oxidation.