Synthesis and characterization of molybdenum catalysts supported on γ-Al[sub 2]O[sub 3]-CeO[sub 2] composite oxides

Abstract

The physical and chemical properties of a catalyst play a vital role in various industrial applications. Molybdenum catalysts supported on γ-Al 2 O 3 and γ-Al 2 O 3 -CeO 2 mixed oxides with varying loading of CeO 2 (5, 10, 15, 20 wt % with respect to γ-Al 2 O 3 ) were prepared by wet impregnation method. The physiochemical properties of these synthesized Mo catalysts were studied with various characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), field emission scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive analysis (FESEM-EDX) and X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF).The results showed that the addition of CeO 2 into the support affected the binding energies of the elements and reducibility of the metal oxides formed after calcination of catalyst samples due to the change in metal-support interaction. Further, the characterization techniques showed that the active metal was well dispersed on the surface of support material.