Catalytic combustion of methane is regarded as an efficient way to conventional thermal combustion for energy production. Research showed that Pt or Pd alloyed with Au displayed high catalytic activities for H2O2 synthesis, N2O decomposition, toluene oxidation, and methane combustion. In separate study, many efforts have been made to study the physical properties of perovskite-type oxides (ABO3) which exhibit promising catalytic activity for low temperature VOC oxidation.  Considering the advantages of noble metals (Au and Pd) and ABO3, a catalyst system coupling noble metals and ABO3 is anticipated to deliver good catalytic activity for methane combustion. Furthermore, three-dimensionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) materials have been previously employed to catalyze the oxidation of VOCs due to their good transportation and diffusion properties induced by their interconnected pore network.

For the first time, we demonstrated the fabrication of Bimetallic AuPd/3DOM LSMO catalysts with high surface areas (32.0–33.8 m2/g) for methane oxidation. The bimetallic catalysts, possessing a unique 3DOM structure and Au–Pd alloy arrangement, gave excellent catalytic activity which was found to be a combined effect of both the support and Au–Pd NPs including (i) the high surface area, (ii) richness in adsorbed oxygen, (iii) oxidized noble metal species on the surface, (iv) modified electronic structure of the Au–Pd alloy, (v) low-temperature reducibility, and (vi) strong interaction between the Au–Pd alloy and the 3DOM support. The findings were supported by In situ DRIFTS investigation.

Read more on ACS Catalysis, 2016 6(10), 6935-6947. DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.6b01685

Also available on Slideshare

Bimetallic Au–Pd nanoparticles dispersed on a nanohybrid three-dimensionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) perovskite support exhibit a synergy for catalytic methane oxidation. The large support surface area, high Au–Pd dispersion, strong noble metal–support