Facile Spray Pyrolysis Synthesis of Various Metal-Doped MoO2 Microspheres for Catalytic Partial Oxidation of n-Dodecane

MoO 2 microspheres doped with various metal species (Zr, Ti or Co) were simply prepared by means of a one-step ultrasonic spray pyrolysis. The dopant metal species were used as a reducing agent to promote the synthesis of MoO 2 , which is a metastable phase. The differences in electronegativity and radius between Mo and the dopant metal species influenced the structure and catalytic activity of the resulting MoO 2 material. Partial oxidation of n -dodecane, a surrogate of Jet A fuel, was performed to evaluate the catalytic activity of MoO 2 spheres doped with Zr, Ti, or Co. Among the produced samples, Co-doped MoO 2 microspheres showed the highest H 2 and CO yield as well as the highest C 12 conversion. Graphical Abstract Various metal-doped MoO 2 microspheres (with Ti, Zr, or Co dopants) were simply prepared by means of a one-step ultrasonic spray pyrolysis, where the dopant metal species were used as a reducing agent to promote the synthesis of MoO 2 . The differences in electronegativity and radius between Mo and the dopant metal species influenced the structure and catalytic activity for partial oxidation of n -dodecane.