Mixed oxides of cerium and manganese as catalysts for total oxidation of ethyl acetate: effect of preparation procedure.

The microstructure of manganese and cerium oxide bi-component materials with different Ce/Mn ratio, obtained by co-precipitation and template assisted hydrothermal techniques, is studied in details by nitrogen physisorption, XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS and Raman spectroscopies and TPR with hydrogen. The catalytic behaviour of the composites in total oxidation of ethyl acetate is investigated. It is found that the close contact between manganese and cerium metal oxide nanoparticles is realized by interface layer of isomorphously substitituted or incorporated in interstitial positions in ceria lattice manganese ions in different oxidative state. The physicochemical data evidence that this interface layer stabilizes a "shell" of finely dispersed CeO₂ species on the "core" of MnO_x entities, which plays a decisive role in the catalytic process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]