Gold nanoparticles supported on LnPO4 (Ln = La, Ce) nanorods and nanospheroids as high performance catalysts for CO oxidation.

Hexagonal LnPO 4 (Ln = La, Ce) nanorods and monoclinic LnPO 4 (Ln = La, Ce) nanospheroids (NSPs) were synthesized by hydrothermal methods Au/LnPO 4 catalysts were prepared by a modified deposition-precipitation method. The samples were characterized by N 2 adsorption-desorption, ICP, XRD, TEM, EDX, XPS, and CO 2 -TPD. The catalytic tests for CO oxidation demonstrated that morphologies of LnPO 4 would influence the activity of Au/LnPO 4 . 1.0% Au/LaPO 4 -NRs catalyst exhibited best catalytic activity achieving complete CO conversion at 25 °C among Au/LnPO 4 catalysts. The sintering resistance of gold nanoparticles in Au/LnPO 4 upon calcination was enhanced due to the strong metal-support interaction. Au/LnPO 4 also showed good stability for CO oxidation with no deactivation after continuous operation for 10 h. The possible mechanism of CO oxidation on Au/LnPO 4 catalysts was also briefly described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]