Several CeO 2 and CuO-CeO 2 catalysts were prepared using different methods, i.e., a homogeneous precipitation with urea, a nanocasting route using CMK-3 carbon as a hard template and a sol-gel process using Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) polymer as a soft template, and tested in the total oxidation of propane. The catalysts were characterized by a number of physicochemical techniques (XRD, N 2 adsorption, TPR, XPS, Raman spectroscopy) showing distinct characteristics. For each series, Cu-Ce-O catalysts with low Cu-loadings (5 wt % CuO) showed the highest activity, higher than those samples either without copper or with high Cu-loading (13 wt % CuO). The incorporation of copper leads to an increase of the concentration of bulk defects but if the Cu-loading is too high the surface area drastically falls. The highest activity in the total oxidation of propane was achieved by Cu-containing ceria catalysts synthesized using a polymer as a template, as this method yields high surface area materials. The surface area and the number of bulk/sub-surface defects of the ceria seem to be the main properties determining the catalytic activity.

A series of W-V-O catalysts with different m-WO 3 and h-WO 3 phase contents were hydrothermally synthesized by employing different tungsten, vanadium, and ammonium precursors and characterized by powder XRD, N 2 adsorption, SEM, X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, Raman and FTIR spectroscopy, NH 3 temperature programmed desorption, H 2 temperature-programmed reduction, and XPS. Finally, the acid/redox properties were analyzed by using aerobic transformation of methanol as a characterization reaction. A correlation between phase composition as well as acid and redox properties was observed, which were correlated to the catalytic performance of the title materials in a one-pot [a]