CO preferential oxidation under visible light irradiation on Au nanoparticles supported on TiO2

In this study Au-NPs/TiO2 catalysts were prepared by deposition of gold nanoparticles onto titania, previously synthesized by sol gel process. A tetrachloroauric acid solution was used to obtain a nominal loading of 1.0 wt % Au-NPs on TiO2. For comparison purposes, the commercial Degussa P25 titania was also employed as a support. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, N2 physisorption at -196°C, HR-TEM, DRUV-Vis and XPS and preliminary tested in the preferential CO oxidation in a H2-rich stream (CO-PROX) at low temperature under visible light irradiation. In spite of the very low amount of Au-NPs, the catalysts resulted very active in the photo-PROX, reaching CO conversion values above 50%.