The monolithic transition metal oxide crossed nanosheets used for diesel soot combustion under gravitational contact mode

Crossed nanosheets of transition metal oxide (TMO-NS: Co-NS, Mn-NS and Fe-NS) were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method and employed for soot combustion in the NO/O2/N2 and O2/N2 atmosphere under gravitational contact mode (GCM). They show high catalytic activities for soot combustion due to the macroporous structure of the as-prepare catalysts increasing the soot-catalyst contact efficiency. The XRD and XPS results reveal that the active phases in the corresponding catalysts exist as Co3O4, Mn2O3 and Fe2O3, respectively. Among these catalysts, the Co-NS shows the best activity for soot combustion, especially in the presence of NO, whose catalytic activity of T50 (391 °C) and SCO2 (100%) is as good as that of the Pt/Al2O3 catalyst. The excellent performance of the Co-NS catalyst results from several factors: the highest intrinsic activity (TOF = 1.77 × 10−5 s−1); the highest redox property as revealed by H2-TPR and soot-TPR; the largest amount of active oxygen species as clarified by XPS; the highest ability of NO oxidation to NO2 supported by NO-TPO. In addition, the multiporous structure of Co3O4 nanosheets is facilitated for the mass transfer. In the O2 atmosphere, soot particulates are directly oxidized by the surface adsorbed oxygen. After introducing of NO, the soot particulates are readily oxidized by NO2 at the low temperature (