Catalytic activity of Fe/AC, obtained by impregnation of activated carbon in aqueous and non-aqueous media, to neutralize NO

The influence of the nature of the impregnating solutions media (aqueous or non-aqueous) on the forming of active phases is investigated in case of preparing iron catalysts, supported on activated carbon with respect to their catalytic activity in the reaction of NO reduction by CO. The catalysts are characterized by chemical analysis (AAS), BET surface area, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), magnetic susceptibility, and Mössbauer spectroscopy (MS). The catalytic investigations and TPD are carried out in a flow apparatus. Three peculiarities are observed with respect to this influence—the ratio between the separate iron species in different oxidation state of Fe species, which build up the catalytic active complexes (CAC), common participation of superficial groups of the carbon support and Fe components of the impregnating solutions as well as different dispersion of the active phase on the surface of the samples. As a result the highest catalytic activity was observed with the sample, obtained by impregnation with an aqueous solution, while with the other samples, obtained from organic solutions, the catalytic activity decreases in the order of: Methanol > Ethyl Ether > Acetone. It was assumed that the different catalytic activities are connected most probably with the process of forming of CAC during the process of preparation of the samples.