The effect of impregnation in aqueous solutions of AgNO 3 and subsequent calcination of manganese oxide surface structures produced on a titanium substrate by plasma-electrolytic oxidation on their catalytic activity in oxidation of CO was studied.The most efficient catalysts for catalytic oxidation of CO are precious metals [1]. However, these metals are expensive and their pretreatment is complicated. Therefore, a considerable attention is given to formation processes and properties of catalysts based on compounds of nonprecious metals and, in particular, oxides [2]. Recently, composite structures containing a metal with a deposited oxide layer and a catalytically active additive have been finding increasing use [3,4]. An important advantage of the composites of this kind is the high thermal and electrical conductivity of the substrate.Manganese oxides are among the most active oxidation catalysts [5,6]. Manganese oxides are, as a rule, deposited onto metals by pyrolytic and electrochemical methods [7,8].Oxide systems of various compositions with a developed surface can be formed on metals by plasmaelectrolytic treatment (PET) [9]. A specific feature of this technique is that high-temperature reactions occur on local areas of the surface under the action of electric discharges. These reactions include thermolytic transformations of solution components at the anode and incorporation of the forming insoluble compounds into the surface structures. In many cases, the film thus formed is a [sandwich] constituted both by oxides of a metal being treated and by compounds based on electrolyte components.Recently, conditions (electrolytes, modes) have been suggested under which layers containing compounds of bi-, tri-, and polyvalent metals can be formed by plasma-electrolytic oxidation on rectifying metals [10 312]. In particular, manganese oxide layers with a layered structure (Ti/TiO 2 /Mn 2 O 3 3Mn 3 O 4 ) have been obtained on titanium in aqueous electrolytes containing Na 2 B 4 O 7 and Mn(CH 3 COO) 2 [10 3 12]. The content of manganese in the surface layer (2 to 60 wt %) and the morphology of the resulting oxide structures depend both on the concentration of manganese acetate in the electrolyte and on the formation conditions. These PET films on titanium catalyze CO oxidation at temperatures in the range 200 3350oC [13]. The catalytic activity of structures of this kind compares well with that of manganese oxide layers obtained on the surface of titanium by the conventional pyrolytic method. The rate of CO conversion by the anodic structures formed depends on their content of manganese.It is known [14 317] that addition of silver to certain metal oxides markedly improves their catalytic properties. In addition, silver is relatively accessible, compared with other precious metals. In this study we examined the influence exerted by silver additives on the composition and catalytic properties of manganese oxide films formed on titanium by plasma-electrolytic oxidation.
EXPERIMENTALOxide layers were formed on 0.5 0 2....