Solvent-Free Chemical Approach to Synthesize Various Morphological Co3O4 for CO Oxidation

Co3O4 nanomaterials with diverse morphologies were usually synthesized in liquid phase accompanied by the template or surfactant under harsh conditions, which further restricted their practical application. Herein, we reported an extremely simple and practical solid-state chemical method to synthesize Co3O4-octahedrons, -plates, and -rods. Among these, the shape control of Co3O4-octahedrons and Co3O4-plates involve variation of the amount of reactant, and the formation of Co3O4-rods with {110} facet can be achieved by replacing the reactant. The formation of the Co3O4 nanomaterials with different morphologies originated from the different microenvironments of reaction and the structure of reactants. The catalytic activity of Co3O4 samples for CO oxidation was evaluated in normal feed gas. The as-prepared Co3O4-rods exposed {110} facet exhibited superior catalytic activity for CO oxidation, which can be attributed to more oxygen defects on Co3O4-rods surface. Additionally, Co3O4-rods exhibited excellent durablility (without pretreatment) in normal feed gas, even in the presence of moisture, comparable or better than that reported in the literature. The practical and environmental friendly solvent-free strategy provided a new promising route for large-scale preparation of (metal) oxide with remarkable CO oxidation performance for practical application.