Co-assembly of microfibrous-structured Ag@SiO2-Co3O4/Al-fiber catalysts assisted with water-soluble silane coupling agent for catalytic combustion of trace ethylene.

Microfibrous structured Ag@SiO 2 -Co 3 O 4 /Al-fiber catalyst, used for catalytic combustion of trace ethylene, is tailored with water-soluble silane coupling agent that has functionally specified multi-groups as bidirectional bridging reactant. Hydrothermally synthesized Co(OH) 2 /Al-fiber nanoarrays can be readily functionalized by amine groups via the silanisation reaction to form Co-O-Si bonds, followed by the assembly of Ag nanoparticles onto this microfibrous-structured substrates by coordination interaction. The as-prepared Ag@SiO 2 -Co 3 O 4 /Al-fiber catalyst uses very low Ag loading of only 0.2 wt% but exhibits high activity/stability at high-throughput operation. Ethylene conversion higher than 99 % was achieved at 200 °C under dry atmosphere, which shows no signs of deactivation with C 2 H 4 conversion retained at ~94 % within 120 h running. Experimental and theoretical studies unanimously revealed that the Ag@SiO 2 -Co 3 O 4 core-shell structures with strong metal-support interaction favor to bind and dissociate intermediate species during C 2 H 4 oxidation, contributing to high activity of C 2 H 4 oxidation. [Display omitted] • Microfibrous-structured Ag@SiO 2 -Co 3 O 4 /Al-fiber catalyst was developed for catalytic combustion of trace ethylene. • The catalyst used very low Ag loading, but exhibited enhanced activity/stability at high-throughput operation. • The catalyst was obtained by using water-soluble silane coupling agent as bidirectional bridging reactant. • Our unique organization strategy endowed catalyst with strong metal-support interaction (SMSI). • SMSI favors to activate and dissociate C 2 H 4 and O 2 , contributing to high C 2 H 4 -oxidation activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]