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Updated: May 7, 2026

Temperature-programmed Deoxygenation of Acetic Acid on Molybdenum Carbide Catalysts
Published on: February 7, 2017
Highly efficient and robust Au/MgCuCr2O4 catalyst for gas-phase oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde
1Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology , 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) supported on MgCuCr2O4-spinel are highly active and selective for the aerobic oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde (conversion 100%; yield ∼95%). The catalyst is stable for at least 500 h. The unprecedented catalytic performance is due to strong synergy between metallic AuNPs and surface Cu(+) species. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows that Cu(+) is already formed during catalyst preparation and becomes more dominant at the surface during ethanol oxidation. These Cu(+) species are stabilized at the surface of the ternary MgCuCr2O4-spinel support. Further kinetic measurements indicate that the Cu(+) species act as sites for O2 activation.
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