Electrospinning synthesis and characterization of nanofibers of Co, Ce and mixed Co-Ce oxides. Their application to oxidation reactions of diesel soot and CO

Abstract

Co, Ce and Co-Ce nanofibers were synthesized by the electrospinning method. To obtain mixed fibers, Co was incorporated in two ways: one step synthesis and sequential synthesis. Nanofibers were applied to two reactions: gas-solid (CO oxidation) and solid-solid-gas (combustion of diesel soot). Different activity trends were observed in both reactions. For soot combustion, Co-Ce nanofibers were more active either than Co or Ce nanofibers. For CO oxidation instead, the activity order was Co > Co-Ce > Ce. Moreover, in the case of soot combustion, for all samples the temperature of maximum combustion rate occurred at a relatively narrow range (350−390 °C). On the contrary, for CO oxidation the temperature range for T50 was notably wider (150−325 °C). The high activity shown for all the samples for soot oxidation is related to the multiple contact points between the fibers and the soot particles, and the trend observed for CO oxidation related to the higher redox capacity of Co, as observed from CO-TPR experiments.