CuO/CeO2 catalysts prepared by modified impregnation method for ethyl acetate oxidation

The impregnation method is one of the most popular methods for preparing various types of supported catalysts. However, the preparation of highly active catalysts by the conventional impregnation method is still a great challenge. In this paper, a modified impregnation method (MI) was developed to prepare CuO/CeO2 catalysts for the catalytic oxidation of ethyl acetate (EA). It was found that the 5 %CuO/CeO2 catalyst (5-MI-500) prepared by MI method achieves 100% EA conversion at a low temperature of 200 °C. However, the temperature for 100% EA conversion over the 5 %CuO/CeO2 catalyst prepared by the conventional method is as high as 300 °C. Notably, the 5-MI-500 catalyst exhibits the highest proportion of well-dispersed CuO and Cu-O-Ce structures, which synergistically enhance catalyst activity. The well-dispersed CuO particles enhance the redox ability of the catalyst, while the Cu-O-Ce structure provides high activated oxygen via oxygen vacancy and better thermal stability during catalytic reaction. Accordingly, the possible reaction mechanism over the 5-MI-500 catalyst for EA oxidation was proposed. This study demonstrates that the MI method reported in this paper can provide a feasible methodology to prepare highly active catalysts with unique structures.