Low temperature CO oxidation on Cu–Cu2O/TiO2 catalyst prepared by photodeposition

A series of Me/TiO2 samples (Me = V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn) with designed Me : TiO2 ratio of 1 : 10 were prepared by a photodeposition method and studied for the oxidation of CO. The Cu/TiO2 catalyst exhibited remarkably high activity and an overall CO oxidation could be achieved at <100 °C. The effects of activation temperatures, GHSV and initial CO concentration on CO oxidation over Cu/TiO2 were further investigated. XRD, TEM, XPS-AES, H2-TPR and FTIR of CO adsorption were employed to characterize Cu/TiO2 samples and the exact composition of Cu/TiO2 prepared by photo-deposition was determined to be Cu–Cu2O/TiO2. Based on the catalytic and characterization results, the possible mechanism for CO oxidation over Cu–Cu2O/TiO2 was discussed. Finally, the durability and deactivation of Cu–Cu2O/TiO2 during CO oxidation was investigated in time-on-stream reaction.