Why Ceria Nanoparticles Obtained from Ce-MOFs Exhibit Higher Catalytic Efficient in Soot Combustion? Understanding the Role of Intrinsic Properties of a Cerium-Organic Framework to Produce CeO2

Abstract

Metal-organic framework (MOF) derivatives, such as porous metal oxides with controlled morphology have received great attention for applications in various fields. In this paper, the experimental results show that porous CeO2 with high specific surface area (90.5 m2 g-1) and nanorod morphology can be obtained by calcining a Ce-MOF template at optimized temperature (300-500 °C). The formation mechanism of this porous structure as well as the influence of the calcination temperature are well explained by taking into account thermal behavior and intrinsic structural features of the Ce-MOF precursor. We employed the oxides formed as heterogeneous catalysts to reduce the soot originating from the incomplete combustion of diesel or diesel/biodiesel blends. The CeO2 materials exhibit outstanding catalytic activity, lowering the temperature of soot combustion from 610 to 370 °C. Compared with similar work, our catalyst exhibits enhanced soot oxidation activity, making it highly promising for diesel particulate filter applications. Such outstanding catalytic performance of the porous CeO2 nanorods benefits from their large specific surface area, and morphological and structural characteristics.