In this paper, the process of preparing 10 wt.% CuO/ -Al2O3 catalysts was studied by different methods. The changes in structure and texture of the catalysts were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method (BET). | Vietnam Journal of Science and Technology 56 (3B) (2018) 228-234 SYNTHESIS OF COPPER-BASED NANOPARTICLE CATALYSTS BY DIFFERENT METHODS FOR TOTAL OXIDATION OF VOCs T. Le Minh1, 2, *, H. Than Quoc An1, T. Pham Huu1 1 Institute of Applied Materials Science - VAST, No 1A TL 29, Thanh Loc Ward, District 12, Ho Chi Minh City Graduate University of Science and Technology – GUST, No 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay district, Hanoi City 2 * Email: leminhtoan2113@ Received: 15 June 2018; Accepted for publication: 9 September 2018 ABSTRACT In this paper, the process of preparing 10 wt.% CuO/ -Al2O3 catalysts was studied by different methods. The changes in structure and texture of the catalysts were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method (BET). The activities of catalysts were investigated by completely oxidized VOCs (toluene and n-butanol) on gas-phase reactions. The results were found that influence of the size of copper nanoparticles enhancing copper dispersion and selectivity of the catalyst prepared by non-thermal plasma (NTP) was superior to those obtained from the impregnation (IMP) and deposition-precipitation (DP). The total oxidation of VOCs to CO2 and H2O was achieved above 275 oC. Compared to the IMP and DP, the NTP method increased the oxidation efficiency by 15-30 %. Keywords: CuO/ -Al2O3, non-thermal plasma, impregnation, deposition precipitation, total oxidation. 1. INTRODUCTION Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are important sources of air pollution [1]. The control of their emissions has, therefore, become imperative. Catalytic oxidation of these pollutants has been identified as one of the most efficient ways for removal VOCs. Noble metals such as Pt and Pd supported on alumina and silica are well established as efficient catalysts for complete combustion of VOCs [2, 3], but they are relatively expensive and their resistance to
