Cu-CeO2 nanorings with abundant oxygen vacancies for superior catalytic oxidation

Ceria (CeO2) catalysts with different structures and shapes usually exhibit significant variations in catalytic activity. In this work, copper-doped CeO2 (Cu-CeO2) nanorings with abundant oxygen vacancies were synthesized by a Cu induced self-assemble method via hydrothermal process. The formation process of Cu-CeO2 investigated by TEM and XRD showed that the introduction of Cu dopants was critical to the formation of unique nanorings structure. The catalytic oxidation activity of Cu-CeO2 was evaluated by elemental mercury oxidation in the flue gas. Specifically, the Cu-CeO2 nanorings had a superior mercury oxidation efficiency of about 100% at 200 ℃ due to the abundance of oxygen vacancies.