Influence of Alumina Precursor Properties on Cu-Fe Alumina Supported Catalysts for Total Toluene Oxidation as a Model Volatile Organic Air Pollutant

The structure–property relationship of catalytic supports for the deposition of redox-active transition metals is of great importance for improving the catalytic efficiency and reusability of the catalysts. In this work, the role of alumina support precursors of Cu-Fe/Al2O3 catalysts used for the total oxidation of toluene as a model volatile organic air pollutant is elucidated. Surface characterization of the catalysts revealed that the surface area, pore volume and acid site concentration of the alumina supports are important but not the determining factors for the catalytic activity of the studied catalysts for this type of reaction. The determining factors are the structural order of the support precursor, the homogeneous distribution of the catalytic sites and reducibility, which were elucidated by XRD, NMR, TEM and temperature programed reduction (TPR). Cu–Fe/Al2O3 prepared from bayerite and pseudoboehmite as highly ordered precursors showed better catalytic performance compared to Cu-Fe/Al2O3 derived from the amorphous alumina precursor and dawsonite. Homogeneous distribution of FexOy and CuOx with defined Cu/Fe molar ratio on the Al2O3 support is required for the efficient catalytic performance of the material. The study showed a beneficial effect of low iron concentration introduced into the alumina precursor during the alumina support synthesis procedure, which resulted in a homogeneous metal oxide distribution on the support.