A Hydrothermally Stable Irreducible Oxide‐Modified Pd/MgAl 2 O 4 Catalyst for Methane Combustion

Catalytic combustion is promising in removing trace amounts of CH 4 to address serious environmental concerns. Supported Pd‐based catalysts are most effective but often suffer from low stability in applications owing to the water‐vapor‐induced sintering. Herein, we develop a universal strategy to prepare irreducible‐oxide‐modified Pd/MgAl 2 O 4 catalysts which show high activity and excellent stability against both hydrothemal aging at elevated temperatures and deactivation in long‐term reaction under wet conditions. The addition of irreducible oxides inhibited the deep oxidation of Pd in the oxygen‐rich conditions, which preserved not only the epitaxial structure but also a suitable active phase of Pd‐PdO x on MgAl 2 O 4 , thus promoting both activity and stability. This work provides new insights into the effect of metal–oxide interaction on CH 4 combustion and offers an avenue to design hydrothermally stable and active combustion catalysts for industrial applications.