Catalytic Combustion of Diesel Soot on Ce/Zr Series Catalysts Prepared by Sol-Gel Method

Cerium-zirconium (Ce-Zr) solid solutions have been extensively used in a wide variety of catalytic processes due to their unique catalytic features in conjunction with lower cost compared to noble metal-based systems. A series of Ce-Zr-based catalysts was prepared by the sol-gel method. The structure and morphology of these catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric-differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Furthermore, investigation on catalytic performance was carried out by constructing a test platform, and the result indicated that the catalysts apparently decreased the soot ignition temperature. These catalysts exhibited higher catalytic activity for soot oxidation under narrow contact conditions. The results revealed that some soot particles could react with adsorbed oxygen, and other part of diesel soot reacted with lattice oxygen. The activity of these catalysts was attributed to synergistic effect arising from the combination of K/Co/Zr and Ce-Zr solid solution, which led to the decrease in the ignition temperature to 294 °C (data from the test platform). The catalyst still keeps good stability and catalytic activity after the cycle oxidation experiment. A reaction pathway was proposed to explain catalytic combustion process of soot, i.e., combination of K/Co/Zr with Ce-Zr solid solution reduced the binding energy of Ce-Zr solid solution, which was conducive to provide more active sites to release the active oxygen (O2−) or lattice oxygen (O2−).