Toluene oxidation in air was carried out in an <i>operando</i> reactor cell and observed under micro-Raman spectroscopy and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The purpose is to elucidate the structure-activity/selectivity relationships for this reaction on ceria catalysts. Three ceria catalysts including ceria, vanadia on ceria and gold on ceria catalysts were prepared from 10 nm CeO<sub>2</sub> nanoparticles. The operando reaction study showed that toluene adsorbed parallel to the surface of ceria and gold/ceria catalyst via p-bonding destabilizing the aromatic ring resulting in complete oxidation. Toluene adsorbed in a different configuration on the vanadia/ceria catalyst and interaction with Bronsted acid sites resulted carbenium ions that produces benzaldehyde and benzoic acid byproducts. Vanadia/ceria catalyst also produces more carbon monoxide compared to the other two catalysts. However, the greater tolerance of vanadia towards halides is an important asset. Studies showed that judicious control of the vanadia species on the catalyst surface could enhance the selectivity of vanadia/ceria catalyst for deep oxidation of toluene to carbon dioxide and water.

Operando reaction study of toluene oxidation over ceria catalysts

255th National Meeting (2018)

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