Enabling High Activity Catalyst Co(3)O(4)@CeO(2) for Propane Catalytic Oxidation via Inverse Loading

Propane catalytic oxidation is an important industrial chemical process. However, poor activity is frequently observed for stable C–H bonds, especially for non-noble catalysts in low temperature. Herein, we reported a controlled synthesis of catalyst Co(3)O(4)@CeO(2)–IE via inverse loading and proposed a strategy of oxygen vacancy for its high catalytic oxidation activity, achieving better performance than traditional supported catalyst Co(3)O(4)/CeO(2)–IM, i.e., the T(50) (temperature at 50% propane conversion) of 217 °C vs. 235 °C and T(90) (temperature at 90% propane conversion) of 268 °C vs. 348 °C at the propane space velocity of 60,000 mL g(−1) h(−1). Further investigations indicate that there are more enriched oxygen vacancies in Co(3)O(4)@CeO(2)–IE due to the unique preparation method. This work provides an element doping strategy to effectively boost the propane catalytic oxidation performance as well as a bright outlook for efficient environmental catalysts.