Nano-sized Au/FeOx catalysts for environmental applications

In the literature there are several studies concerning the use of gold-based catalysts for environmental applications. It has been recently reported that gold catalysts exhibit high performance in the deep oxidation of different molecules and are potentially capable of being employed in fuel cells for CO traces removal by preferential CO oxidation in H2-rich streams (PROX reaction) [1-2]. Several studies demonstrated the addition of an iron component to gold supported catalysts brings a beneficial effect in terms of enhanced activity, selectivity and resistance to deactivation. Thus, we designed catalysts containing iron stabilized gold nanoparticles with a controlled size and an intimate contact between gold and iron using bimetallic carbonyl clusters as precursors of the active phase [3]. Carbonyl metal clusters are, in fact, quite attractive since their chemistry is well developed, they can be prepared with different sizes and composition and be decomposed under very mild conditions.