Stable and Active Au Catalyst Supported on CeMnO<sub>3</sub> Perovskite for Selective Oxidation of Glycerol
Kunhong Jiang, Zhenyu Li, Zehao Zhang, Jiefei Li, Xingyue Qi, Jian Zhou, Xiaojing Wang, Hang Wei, Haibin Chu
Abstract
The selective oxidation of glycerol holds promise to transform glycerol into value-added chemicals. However, it remains a big challenge to achieve satisfactory selectivity toward the specific product at high conversion due to the multiple reaction pathways. Here, we prepare a hybrid catalyst via supporting Au nanoparticles on CeMnO 3 perovskite with a modest surface area, achieving promoted conversion of glycerol (90.1%) and selectivity of glyceric acid (78.5%), which are much higher than those of CeMnO x solid-solution-supported Au catalysts with larger surface area and other Ce-based or Mn-based Au catalysts. The strong interaction between Au and CeMnO 3 perovskite facilitates the electron transfer from the B-site metal (Mn) in the CeMnO 3 perovskite to Au and stabilizes Au nanoparticles, which results in the enhanced catalytic activity and stability for glycerol oxidation. Valence band photoemission spectral analysis reveals that the uplifted d-band center of Au/CeMnO 3 promotes the adsorption of the glyceraldehyde intermediate on the catalyst surface, which benefits further oxidation of glyceraldehyde into glyceric acid. The flexibility of the perovskite support provides a promising strategy for the rational design of high-performance glycerol oxidation catalysts.