Preparation of Au/TiO2 Catalyst and the Performance of Liquid Methanol Catalytic Oxidation to Formic Acid

The aerobic oxidation of aqueous methanol to produce formic acid was studied using gold catalysts. The results show that Au nanoparticles are highly dispersed on the TiO2 supporter with 4.4 nm average particle sizes. By proper selection of the reaction conditions about temperature, pressure, amount of base and catalysts, and time, a yield of 51.4% of formic acid could be achieved at moderate temperatures and pressures. The preliminary mechanism of the oxidation pathway was also studied at it was determined that the dehydrogenation of methanol to produce formaldehyde happened first followed by the continuous oxidation to formic acid. CO2 as the major byproduct was produced from the intermediate.