A facilitated synthesis of hierarchically porous Cu-Ce-Zr catalyst using bacterial cellulose for VOCs oxidation

Abstract Highly active CuO-CeO2-ZrO2 catalysts were prepared by sol-gel method, using environmentally friendly bacterial cellulose (BC) as structure directing regent. The catalyst designed with commercial BC (Com-BC) exhibited catalytic performances in toluene (T100 =220 oC) and ethyl acetate oxidation (T100 =170 oC) superior to the catalysts prepared by traditional methods. Furthermore, excellent stability was obtained and no deactivation was observed during the 100 h on stream in toluene and ethyl acetate oxidation at T100. The excellent activity and stability of Com-BC can be explained by the hierarchically porous structure, abundant oxygen vacancies, and good reducibility.