A green and facile synthesis of Co3O4 monolithic catalyst with enhanced total oxidation of propane performance

Abstract A nanoflower-like nickel foam supported Co 3 O 4 (Co-NF) monolithic catalyst was synthesized via a green and facile electro-deposition strategy. The optimized Co-NF presents much higher catalytic activity per Co 3 O 4 loading, ca. 6.7 × 10 −4  mol/(g Co3O4 ·s) at 220 °C and exhibits a lower activation energy of 46 kJ/mol compared with powder Co 3 O 4 . It also exhibited good stability (e.g. >80% propane conversion) for 40 h at 350 °C and a GHSV of 30,000 mL/(g cat ·h) without any notable decrease. The 3D hierarchical microstructures with interconnected pore channels, the high Co 2+ content and the weak Co O bond strength of Co-NF-300 s were considered key factors responsible for the good activity and stability in the propane catalytic total oxidation.