Niobium Modification of Au/CeO(2) for Enhanced Catalytic Performance over Benzene Combustion

A novel Au/Nb-CeO(2) was obtained by loading Au to Nb-modified CeO(2) adopting a thermal decomposition method. The modification effect of Nb on the physicochemical properties and performance of Au/CeO(2) for benzene combustion was systematically clarified. The incorporated Nb species are found to be present in the two forms of highly-dispersed state and bulk NbO(x) into CeO(2) lattice in the obtained Au/Nb-CeO(2) catalyst. They greatly enlarged the BET surface area, improved the redox property, and strengthened the Au–support interaction. The addition of Nb also promotes catalytic performance of Au/CeO(2), especially high-temperature performance: T(90%) decreases by ca. 40 °C and Au/Nb-CeO(2) exhibits superior stability to Au/CeO(2) at 230 °C. The slightly improved Au dispersion and redox properties resulted in the small increase on initial activity of Au/Nb-CeO(2), but the large BET surface area and the strong Au–support interaction greatly promoted the high-temperature performance improvement of Au/Nb-CeO(2) for benzene combustion reaction.