A Hydrothermally Stable Irreducible Oxide‐Modified Pd/MgAl2O4 Catalyst for Methane Combustion.

Catalytic combustion is promising in removing trace amounts of CH4 to address serious environmental concerns. Supported Pd‐based catalysts are most effective but often suffer from low stability in applications owing to the water‐vapor‐induced sintering. Herein, we develop a universal strategy to prepare irreducible‐oxide‐modified Pd/MgAl2O4 catalysts which show high activity and excellent stability against both hydrothemal aging at elevated temperatures and deactivation in long‐term reaction under wet conditions. The addition of irreducible oxides inhibited the deep oxidation of Pd in the oxygen‐rich conditions, which preserved not only the epitaxial structure but also a suitable active phase of Pd‐PdOx on MgAl2O4, thus promoting both activity and stability. This work provides new insights into the effect of metal–oxide interaction on CH4 combustion and offers an avenue to design hydrothermally stable and active combustion catalysts for industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]