Nanosized Pt-Co catalysts for the preferential CO oxidation.

The preferential CO oxidation in the presence of excess hydrogen was studied over Pt-Co/gamma-Al2O3. CO chemisorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX) and temperature programmed reduction (TPR) were conducted to characterize active catalysts. The catalytic activity for CO oxidation and methanation at low temperatures increased with the amounts of cobalt in Pt-Co/gamma-Al2O3. This accompanied the TPR peak shift to lower temperatures. The optimum molar ratio between Co and Pt was determined to be 10. The co-impregnated Pt-Co/gamma-Al2O3 appeared to be superior to Pt/Co/gamma-Al2O3 and Co/Pt/gamma-Al2O3. The reductive pretreatment at high temperature such as 773 K increased the CO2 selectivity over a wide reaction temperature. The bimetallic phase of Pt-Co seems to give rise to high catalytic activity in selective oxidation of CO in H2-rich stream.