Synthesis of porous CuO–CeO2 nanospheres with an enhanced low-temperature CO oxidation activity

CuO–CeO2 nanospheres with a porous structure were synthesized by an improved urea method involving first hydrothermal treatment to get Ce–Cu binary precursor and then the calcination of the precursor. The CuO–CeO2 nanospheres consist of spherical particles with diameters in the range of 300–400 nm. These nanospheres are actually composed of nanoparticles of ca. 10 nm, resulting in the formation of a mesoporous structure. Compared with conventional urea method, in which Ce–Cu binary precursor is commonly achieved in an oil bath at appropriate temperature, the Ce–Cu binary precursor obtained via the hydrothermal process could be more highly homogeneous and more highly interdispersed CuO–CeO2 thus was formed. In addition, the resulted porous CuO–CeO2 catalyst has a lower CO oxidation temperature of as low as 71 °C