Facile synthesis of CeO2-supported gold nanoparticle catalysts for selective oxidation of glycerol into lactic acid

•We found chemical reduction with glycerol was effective for Au/nano-CeO2 synthesis.•Glycerol-based chemical reduction enables the synthesis of larger gold particles.•Catalyst/glycerol weight ratio affects the product distribution.•Au/CeO2 selectively catalyzes the glycerol to lactic acid (Con. 98%, Sel. 83%). This study explores a new synthetic route toward CeO2-supported gold nanoparticles catalysts (1, 3, and 5wt.% Au) and their catalysis of the oxidation of glycerol at atmospheric pressure. Gold was loaded on a hydrothermally synthesized nanocrystalline CeO2 support (∼8nm) via deposition-precipitation with urea (DPU). To obtain cerium oxide-supported gold nanoparticles, thermal reduction at 300°C under flowing H2 is currently popular. However, this method invariably forms small gold particles (