INVESTIGATION OF CARBON MONOXIDE (CO) OXIDATION PROCESS FOR CONVERTING 13CO TO 13CO2

Considering that 13 CO2 is an appropriate precursor material in 13 C labelling of various organic, inorganic and biological molecules, in this study the CO oxidation reaction is investigated for covert 13 CO to 13 CO2.CO oxidation was performed in a plug flow reactor over three Ni/Al2O3 catalysts (Ni loadings of 5 wt.%, 7 wt.%, and 10 wt.%) prepared by the wet impregnation method.Ni/Al2O3 catalysts present excellent catalytic activity in CO oxidation: catalytic performance improves with rising reaction temperature and with increasing metal loading.Among the investigated Ni catalysts, 7 wt.%Ni/Al2O3 is considered the most promising candidate for CO oxidation due to the wide temperature range for catalytic performance, as well as the best distribution of the smallest Ni nanoparticles, and the best metal dispersion corresponding to a very good metal surface area.Also, 7 wt.%Ni/Al2O3 was stable over 30 h time-on-stream with a mean CO conversion value of 90% at 250 °C.The good catalytic activity of this catalyst was validated in 13 CO total conversion to 13 CO2.